


Without You

by Ikorose



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-04
Updated: 2014-03-17
Packaged: 2018-01-03 12:13:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 36
Words: 72,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1070350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikorose/pseuds/Ikorose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Renji cheats on Ichigo and Ichigo has a hard time moving on. Can a new man suddenly thrust into his life change that?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ichigo walked through the hallway of Karakura High School, on his way to his locker. He barely registered the crush of people around him trying to escape the school for the day. He was so deep in thought that he didn’t hear his friends calling for him until a hand grabbed his shoulder and forced him to stop. He looked up and saw his boyfriend Renji. Ichigo visibly stiffened and shrugged off Renji’s hand.

“What do you want Renji? I have to get home.” Ichigo said wearily.

“What do you mean what do I want? I’m gonna walk you home. I want to spend time with you. You are my boyfriend after all,” said Renji a bit put off by Ichigo’s cold disposition. “What’s up with you? You seem to be a bit pissy again.”  
Ichigo sighed; they had been fighting excessively lately. Not their normal friendly arguments that happened every time they were around each other, but full on knock down drag out fights, more than once they had come to blows. Ichigo was getting tired of it.

“Renji, I’m going home. I’ll talk to you later. I have too much homework to do tonight.” With that Ichigo turned and left. Renji stared at his back wondering what was going on in Ichigo’s head. He knew that they had been fighting a lot lately, and he was pretty sure he knew why, but Ichigo wouldn’t say what was bothering him.

“Renji, you coming over today?” purred a deep sensual voice in Renji’s ear. He turned around and looked at the man standing behind him looking like sin dipped in sex.

“Yeah Maki, I’m coming over.” Renji said. Maki Ichinose was a student teacher under Sensei Kariya, the history teacher. Renji had started seeing him two months ago, even though he and Ichigo had been together for a little over six months at that time. He couldn’t seem to help himself, but he still loved Ichigo and couldn’t bring himself to end the relationship. He had his suspicions that Ichigo knew though. Ichigo had become moody and distant about a month and a half ago, the fighting started not long after. Renji brought himself out of his thoughts and looked at Maki, smiling he said, “I’ll meet you there in a few hours, let me finish my homework first. Then there will be no distractions for the rest of the night.”

“Sounds good to me,” Maki said,” I’ll see you then.”

As Renji walked out of the doors to the school, he didn’t notice Ichigo standing a few feet away with his other friends. 

XOXOXOXOXOX

Ichigo watched the scene unfold in front of him with no show of outward emotion. Renji, his boyfriend of half a year, was making plans to go see his lover of two months. Yes, Ichigo knew about it, and yes it pissed him off, however he refused to end it with Renji without Renji admitting it to him. This was his own private way of torturing the man for cheating on him. Chad watched his friend closely making sure that he was ok.

“Ichigo, are you ok?” asked Tatsuki asked. She watched Renji’s blatant betrayal of her long time friend and fought the urge to beat the crap out of him right then and there.

“Yeah, Tatsuki, I’m good. I think I’ll go home and call Renji and invite him over. See how bad I can fuck up his plans for the night.” Ichigo smirked,” Then I’m gonna get him to confess his infidelity and leave him. Tonight is as good a time as any to end things. I’m ready to move on.”

His friends looked at him in shock and started laughing. They knew that Ichigo knew about the affair but after listening to him they knew that he was going to be ok. Only Orihime had any doubts about how bad Ichigo was hurting. She watched with a sad smile as Ichigo walked away, heading for his house.

XOXOXOXOX

As Ichigo walked home he pulled out his cell phone and called Renji, a sad smirk on his face. “Yo, Berry, what’s up?” Renji answered his phone.

“I was thinking, I would rather spend time with you than by myself. Can you meet me at my house? You can help me with my history homework, you seem to really like the class and do better in it than I do,” Ichigo said, throwing a little hidden jab at Renji.

“Um…..”

“If you have other plans, that’s fine Renji. I just wanted to see you. We haven’t been able to be alone for a while now, and Goat-face is taking the girls to Kisuke’s for the night, they won’t be home until tomorrow morning.”

“Um….yeah, I’ll be there in a few. Let me call Rukia and let her know that I’m headin’ to your place. She can let Byakuya know for me.”

“Alright babe can’t wait to spend some quality time with you. Bye, love.”

Ichigo hung up the phone laughing. Tonight should be amusing at least, and the beginning of his single life. “Fuck why are relationships such a pain in the ass?” Ichigo thought to himself, as he walked up the walk to his front door. Ichigo went inside and changed out of his uniform and went to the kitchen to get a drink. He was sitting at the dining room table doing homework when Renji walked in. Ichigo caught the disappointed scowl on his face as he hung up his phone.

“Everything ok, Renji? You look upset.” Ichigo said as he thought to himself, “Maki must be mad that Renji had to cancel, oh well. He can comfort him later on tonight.”

“Huh? Oh yeah, everything is fine. I’m gonna go change my cloths, I’ll be right back.”

“Ok.”

When Renji reappeared he had had is emotions in check again and sat at the table with Ichigo. Ichigo looked at him and smiled, “Let the end come unimpeded” he thought to himself. He was tired of the lies and secrecy. 

“Renji, can we talk? Without fighting and honestly?” Ichigo asked.

“Yeah of course.”

“How long are you gonna try to keep this up?”

“—“

“It's been going for two months already, how much longer do you plan on dragging it out? I just want to know so that I can make plans. I mean do we need to have Maki come over and set up a schedule? He gets you this week, I get you next week, how does that sound to you? If you have a different suggestion let me know.”

“Ichi, I……” Renji stuttered. “How?”

“You’re an idiot, that’s how. You sent me a text meant for him about two week into it. I started to notice the two of you after that. You weren’t exactly hiding it very well. I know you had plans to go over to his house today, I was going to fuck with you all night and ruin it for you, but I find that I don’t care anymore. Get out Renji, this thing between us is done and over with. If you had been honest with me from the start you might have at least saved our friendship, but as it stands right now…..”Ichigo let out a frustrated huff and stood up,” I’m done. I can’t be friends with someone who can be so deceitful and dishonest. Not that me hiding the fact that I knew is any better, but I wanted you to be honest with me. I thought that you still cared even if you don’t love me. I was wrong. Now leave. Maki is probably waiting.”

“Ichi…” Renji started as he watched Ichigo walk away.

“You don’t get to call me that anymore. I’ll see you around Abari-san.”


	2. Chapter 2

Three months later  
“Ichigo, did you know that you’re getting new neighbors?”

“No I didn’t notice. Why what’s up Rukia?”

“Nothing, just watching them move in. WOW!!! Get over here! That man is hot! I wonder if he’s one of the movers or your new neighbor?” The dark haired girl said. Ichigo was curious to see what got the openly gay females attention. “Oh my god, Ichi, can I call the guys over? There are four of them so far!”

Ichigo stared out of his window trying not to drool. “Uh, yeah go ahead.”

Rukia was already furiously typing a text message to their friends. About 20 minutes later Ichigo’s room was full of their very gay, very single friends. Ichigo, Shinji, Uryuu, and Kensei were all crowded around the window drooling.

“Chad is missing out!” said Shinji,” I think he would really like one with the wavy brown hair. I want the tall skinny one; he looks like he knows how to fuck long and hard.”

“Pervert,” Ichigo said, “Where is Chad anyhow?”

“He had to stay after school to help Tatsuki. They are training for the semi-finals.”

“Oh, too bad.”

Rukia popped up in front of the guys and smiled, “don’t worry, I got it.” She pulled out her camera and began snapping pictures of the men moving into the house.

“Hey Ichigo, isn’t that your dad?” Uryuu suddenly asked. All five people turned and watched as Ichigo’s dad walked up to a man with a kind face and brown hair pushed back from his face. Ichigo watched as Isshin hugged the man and began talking to him. After a few minutes the four men that they had been watching came over to the two of them along with a fifth one. They all shook Isshin's hand and they all nodded their heads and smiled. As they watched the neighbors there was a soft knock at Ichigo’s door. Ichigo’s sister came in and asked if everyone was staying for dinner. Everyone said yes, it meant more time to be able to watch the parade of hot men next door.

XOXOXO

An hour later the teenagers all trooped downstairs for dinner. The men next door had all gone inside half an hour ago. When they walked into the dining room however they noticed that the table wasn’t set. 

“Hey Yuzu, what’s up with dinner? I thought you said it was ready.” Ichigo called to his sister.

“It is, we’re eating outside. It’s such a nice night out and there are too many people to eat inside. Dad invited Kisuke and the kids and some other friends of his to dinner as well.”

“Oh, ok. Need any help?”

“No, dads outside already, see if he needs anything.”

As the five teens walked outside Ichigo tensed and heard the ever familiar, “IIIIICCCCCHHHHHIIIIIGGGGGOOOOO!!!!!!” He easily dodged the flying round house kicked aimed at his head. As he spun out of the way he grabbed Isshin’s leg and threw him over his shoulder across the yard. Isshin landed at the feet of a silver haired man, who began to laugh holding his side tears streaming down his face.

“Mah, mah Isshin. You never change!! But your son shouldn’t be able to defeat you so easily, you are slipping.”

Ichigo stared as the new neighbors walked into his back yard. Isshin jumped up and hugged the silver haired man, who upon closer inspection resembled a fox.

“Gin! It’s been so long, you look well. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have you and Sosuke living next door to me! Your boys are the same age as my son and his friends, I bet they will all become good friends. Come let me introduce you to everyone!”

Isshin walked over to Ichigo and his friends followed Gin and his family. Rukia was quietly squealing, she was really hoping that at least one of these men was gay and took an interest in her friend. Ichigo was gun shy after the break up with Renji. She silently hoped they were all gay and all her friends would get a chance to be happy.

“Gin, Sosuke, this is my son Ichigo. These are my daughters Karin and Yuzu. And this is the extended family, Ichigo’s friends Kuchiki Rukia, Ishida Uryuu, Hirako Shinji, and Muguruma Kensei. Yasutora Sado, or Chad, as everyone calls him isn’t here right now. I think that your boys will get along well with mine.” Isshin said laughing.

“Nice to meet you all,” Sosuke said,” Let me introduce you to our sons. Cifer Ulquiorra, Gilga Nnoitra, Hisagi Shuhei, Coyote Starrk, and Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow. They will be attending school with you for the remainder of the year. I hope you all become as close as Isshin, Kisuke, Gin and I did in school.”

Just then Kisuke walked in and pulled the attention of all the adults away. Leaving ten slightly awkward teens to try to get to know each other. Thankfully Shinji was never known to be shy. With a flip of his straight blond hair he walked up to Nnoitra and asked with a straight face, “Are you straight? If you are can I have the chance to turn you?”

Everyone just looked at him with their jaws on the ground, until Nnoitra laughed. “Shinji, right? I like you, I think we are gonna have an exhausting relationship. I’m a horny pervert and you are just too hot.”

“I know, you are downright fuckable yourself.” Shinji purred pushing into Nnoitra’s personal space. Nnoitra grinned and wrapped his arm around the smaller blond man.

“Shit there are two of them,” growled Shuhei, “they even have the same grin. Can I change rooms to the other side of the house? I don’t want to be kept up all night by these two and whatever kink they are into.”

As everyone laughed Yuzu walked up and announced that dinner was ready. As the group sat down around the table, Rukia couldn’t help but notice how Grimmjow was openly staring at Ichigo. “Maybe there is hope for Ichigo. Of course he doesn’t even notice that a blue haired Greek god is looking at him like he’s on the menu for dinner. I guess I’ll have to help him take notice.”

Dinner was a loud and enjoyable affair, old friends reconnected and new friendships took root. Rukia quietly cornered each of her friends and enlisted them in her plan to help Ichigo and Grimmjow become more than friends. Nnoitra offered to help as well when he overheard Rukia talking to Shinji, Rukia couldn’t be happier, now she had an inside line to Grimmjow.

XOXOXOXOXO

A few hours later the impromptu party broke up and the teens went their separate ways. Ichigo agreed to meet the boys in the morning and walk with them to school. As Ichigo collapsed on his bed, he let his mind drift back to the events of the night. He wasn’t as obtuse as everyone believed, he noticed Grimmjow staring all night and Rukia secretly scheming with his friends, no doubt something to do with the blue haired divine being. Ichigo smiled a sad little smile, too bad he swore off dating after the entire Renji fiasco.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Ichigo rolled over with a groan, hitting his alarm clock hard enough to break it. “Shit. I broke another one,” he growled as he got out of bed. He opened his closet and pulled out a towel and a new alarm clock, “I have to buy more this is my last one.”

After his shower and a quick breakfast he walked outside to meet up with his new neighbors. As he stepped out his front door he heard the familiar sounds of rushing footsteps behind him, “GOOD MORNING, ICHIGO!!” Isshin yelled as he flew out the front door trying to attack him from behind. Ichigo side stepped his father who went sailing past and landed on his face in the yard. Ichigo slammed his foot into his father’s back when he tried to get back up.

“Stay down you crazy bastard!!What the hell is your problem? This isn’t how you treat your son, stupid Goat-face!!”

“My son, you are getting so good, soon I will have nothing left to teach you!”

Ichigo scoffed and walked away, looking up when he heard laughing from in front of the house. Grimmjow and his brothers were standing there laughing at the scene in front of them.

“Yo, Berry. What’s wrong with your old man? He mental or something?” Grimmjow asked.

“Something like that, he says he needs to train me. Stupid bastard. He tries to sneak attack me constantly.”

“Strange man. So let’s get moving, how far is the school from here?” Inquired Ulquiorra. He seemed to show no emotion but his eyes danced with amusement.

“It only takes about 20 minutes to walk; we’ll meet up with everyone along the way.”

Ichigo started walking down the street and the five brothers followed. Grimmjow stared at Ichigo’s ass for the first 10 minutes causing his brothers to laugh and whisper teasing comments to the blue haired man.

“Hey Grimm, you know his cloths aren’t gonna disappear just because you stare hard enough, you actually have to talk to the kid if you want that ass,” whispered Nnoitra causing Grimmjow to blush lightly.

“Fuck off. I’m not staring at his ass. Besides he’s probably straight.” Grimmjow growled watching a girl with orange hair and big boobs run up and throw her arms around Ichigo,” see what I told you. He’s into girls.”

Nnoitra smirked to himself, he knew the orange haired boy was definitely not into girls, but he wasn’t gonna say anything to his brother yet. Nnoitra decided to enjoy Grimmjow’s misery for awhile first. His enjoyment was short lived, however, when Rukia and another girl with short black hair joined the group.

“This is Tatsuki and Orihime, these are Ichigo’s new next door neighbors Grimmjow, Nnoitra, Ulquiorra, Starrk, and Shuhei,” Rukia said making introductions. After everyone had acknowledged each other, Tatsuki turned to Orihime and grabbed her around the waist leaning in and kissing her long and hard.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t around yesterday, baby. Practice went longer than I planned, I couldn’t bring Chad down!” Tatsuki purred to Orihime. The slightly ditzy girl giggled and returned the embrace.

“That’s ok; I fixed a new recipe last night and went to bed early. You should try some of my leftovers! I brought them for lunch!”

The new members to the group were curious as to why everyone suddenly turned green and blanched, quickly muttering to the girl that they all had their own lunches but thank you.

“Do NOT ever eat anything she cooks!” Ichigo whispered to the boys,” If you value your health always find a way to turn her down nicely. Tatsuki won’t take it well if you’re rude to her girlfriend.”

Grimmjow started to mumble to himself about not being afraid of any girl when Shuhei suddenly interrupted his thoughts. “Arisawa Tatsuki?” Shuhei exclaimed.

“Um yeah, that’s me. Why?”

“You're one of my favorite amateur martial artists! I saw your match last year where you took second in the nation with a broken arm!”

“Oh, well thank you.”

“You’re that Tatsuki! Wow, didn’t know that there were such accomplished fighters in this town,” Nnoitra said, “looks like it might not be so bad moving here. At least one decent fighter and a hot piece of ass in the first two days. I might like it here.”

As everyone laughed and continued on their way to school a large shadow fell across them. The newest members of the group all tensed and took up defensive stances, only to look around confused as Ichigo and Tatsuki started laughing.

“Oi, Chad! Make some noise when you walk up people. I think you startled our new friends,” admonished Rukia.

“Sorry,” the quiet giant said softly, “I’m Sado, but everyone calls me Chad. Nice to meet you.”

“Um, hi….,” Grimmjow said,” I’m Grimmjow; these are my brothers Ulquiorra, Nnoitra, Shuhei, and Starrk. We just moved into the house next door to Ichigo.”

“Hmm, I hope you like it here.”

With that Chad fell silent again and the group made their way to the school and met up with Shinji, Kensei, and Uryuu.

“Come on, we’ll take you all to the office to get your schedules,” Ichigo said, “Tessai is the counselor; he also works with Kisuke at the shop.”

XOXOXOXOX

Twenty minutes later all five boys had their schedules and were told to follow one of Ichigo’s friends or the day to get acquainted with the school.

“Urahara-san told me you’d be here today and that you had already met and gotten to know Kurosaki-chan and his friends, so I’ll keep you together to get adjusted to the school. Each of your new schedules matches one of their existing schedules.”

“It looks like we all have the same homeroom, so let’s get there and sort out who belongs with whom.” Uryuu said looking over the new schedules. When the group entered class Grimmjow and his brothers had to introduce themselves to the class.  
Ulquiorra stepped up and introduced everyone, “I am Cifer Ulquiorra, these are my brothers; Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow, Coyote Starrk, Gilga Nnoitra, and Hisagi Shuhei. We just moved here from Osaka.”

“HEY!! How can you all be brothers and have different family names and be the same age?!” whined a brown haired boy.

“Keigo, shut up! Don’t ask stupid questions!” growled Ichigo.

“We are adopted,” Ulquiorra stated in his deadpan voice.

“Ok thank you boys, why don’t you take a seat in the back and get to know your classmates?” the teacher said.

“Yes sensei.”

They took their seats in the back of the room with Ichigo and the group figured out who was following whom for the day. By the end of homeroom the group split in five different directions. Rukia couldn’t help but giggle and whisper to her girlfriend, Lisa that Urahara must have told Tessai which boy was to be paired with which because it seemed to perfect. Nnoitra and Shinji, Kensei and Shuhei, Ulquiorra and Uryuu, Chad and Starrk, and Ichigo and Grimmjow. Rukia was bouncing with excitement when they entered their first class for the day, History with sensei Kariya and his student teacher Ichinose Maki. Rukia knew that it would be an interesting period; Renji was in their class as well.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as Isshin got his kids off to school there was a knock on his door. “Come in Sosuke, I’m in the kitchen.”

Gin and Sosuke walked into the house and sat at the dining room table, Isshin handed each of them a cup of coffee and sat down, “So what is this business proposition? You know I’m not that heavily involved with the old man anymore, I only provide medical support for him now.”

“I know that Isshin, but you can tell him what I want and see if he will agree to meet with us, you have a better chance of getting into see him faster than we do. I think that Seireitei and Hueco Mundo should merge; I truly believe it would be mutually beneficial to bring both of the premier MMA companies together into one. “

“I see, but you have overlooked one detail in that plan, there are now three companies now. There is a fledgling company that is gaining ground fast, it’s called Hogyoku. The old man is already interested in acquiring them. Let me call him and see what he says. Give me a few minutes to see if he has time to take my call.”

Isshin got up from the table and grabbed the phone dialing as he returned to his seat. After several rings a soft spoken woman answered “Seireitei Mixed Martial Arts Company, Unohana Retsu speaking.”

“Hey Retsu, its Isshin, is the old man in?”

“Hello Isshin-kun, yes he’s in and has a free spot in his schedule to talk to you, hold on.” Several seconds of silence passed and there was a click and a gruff voice came across the line.

“Isshin, how are you? What can I help you with today?”

“Hello pop, I was wondering if you have a minute to listen to a possible business proposition. Aizen Sosuke and Ichimaru Gin are back in town, they bought the house next to mine. They are interested in merging Seireitei and Hueco Mundo.”

“Hmmmm, hold on…….. (Retsu when do I have a free time slot for a meeting?....... Isshin, if you can get the owner of Hogyoku to come as well, I have a free slot to meet with everyone today at one. After that it won’t be for another six weeks, until after the tournament, what do you say?”

“Give me about 20 minutes, I’ll call you right back.”

“Well he’s not against it, but I have to get the owner of Hogyoku to come to the meeting as well. I hope you have everything together, we need to be there at 1: oo this afternoon. Go get your stuff together, let me try to convince the owner of Hogyoku, it’s gonna take some time and a lot of sweet talk to get him to agree.”

Aizen looked surprised, “you know the owner?”

“Yes, but I keep his secret at his request.”

“Ok, we’ll meet you back here about 11:30 then?”

“Sounds good.” Isshin said starting to dial the phone again.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Later that afternoon

“So Isshin, you got this mysterious owner to agree to come?” Sosuke asked.

“Yeah, you don’t want to know what I had to promise to get him to come,” Isshin said as they rode the elevator up to the old man’s office. Sosuke raised an eyebrow and Isshin just laughed. “You’ll understand soon enough.” As they stepped off the elevator his phone went off, looking at the display he sighed, “Well looks like we are all here, he’ll be up in a minute.”

“Should we wait for him?”

“No lets go see the old man,” Isshin smirked, “Hello Retsu, is he ready for us?”

“Yes Isshin-kun, go right on in.”

“Thank you; there is one more on his way up, send him in when he gets here.”

“Of course.”

XOXOXOXO

The three men entered the office of the owner of Seireitei MMA Company, and greeted the old man sitting behind the massive desk.

“Hello pop, you look good.”

“Thank you Isshin, so do you. Ahhh, my wayward sons have returned. Aizen, Gin it is good to see you. Come in and sit.”

“Hello Yamamoto-sama, it is good to see you as well.” Aizen said bowing.

“Nonsense. Aizen, you and Gin are like my own children. There is no need to stand on such formality. I have followed your success with Hueco Mundo and am very proud of you. Now Isshin, where is the owner of Hogyoku? I thought you said he would be here,” Yamamoto said to his son.

“He’s on his way up,” Isshin started to say when he was interrupted by the office door being flung open. In stepped one Urahara Kisuke in all of his eccentric glory. “Hello, old man Yama! I hear you are interested in acquiring my company.”


	5. Chapter 5

Ichigo sat with his head down and his eye twitching in irritation. Grimmjow had taken the seat behind him and spent the first half of class leaning over his shoulder purring inane comments in his ear. Rukia found the entire ordeal so funny that she couldn’t stop laughing. The commotion caused by the two of them gained the attention of sensei Kariya and he was pissed.

“If the three of you can’t keep your personal lives personal, please share with the class.” Sensei said. Ichigo turned bright red and buried his head as Rukia and Grimmjow laughed. Rukia stood up giving her most innocent look and made Ichigo want to strangle the girl right then and there.

“Well Ichigo is showing the new student around today and it seems that Grimmjow is attracted to Ichigo, so he has been flirting with him. I thought it was cute the way that Ichigo was blushing.” She sat back down and smiled sweetly. The class stared at her and several of them laughed quietly.

Sensei Kariya looked dumbstruck, “well please stop. This is history class not a social hall.”

Ichigo chanced a look up when sensei began the lesson again and caught Renji staring at him, a strained look on his face. When Renji noticed Ichigo looking at him he quickly turned around and ignored the orange haired man the rest of the lecture. 

“Now I am going to have you split into groups of five, I will give each group a topic to research and prepare a presentation on. This assignment will be due at the end of next week. Here are your groups…..”

Ichigo ended up in a group with Rukia, Lisa, Grimmjow, and Renji. Could his life get any worse? They were given the bombing of Pearl Harbor to research and present from both the Japanese and American perspectives. As the group settled in to decide who would do what, Ichigo couldn’t help but notice that Renji was sitting awfully close to him. Ichigo pointedly ignored Renji and focused on the rest of the group, he noticed the Rukia kept sending Renji death glares. “Huh? I’m gonna have to ask her what that’s all about.” Ichigo thought to himself. After they had divided up all the assignments they had about 15 minutes to spare. Grimmjow leaned in close to Ichigo again trying to talk to the boy without sensei hearing him flirting again.

“Oi, Ichigo can I ask you a question?”

“Sure Grimm, what’s up?”

“Do you like to fight? I’m looking for a new sparring partner. My brothers are getting boring.”

“Yeah, I haven’t had a decent sparring partner in almost a year.” Ichigo caught the enraged look Renji gave him, up until they broke up Renji had been Ichigo’s sparring partner for the better part of a year. “I’ll check to see if we can use my grandfather’s dojo after school.”

“Good, I can’t wait to get my hands on you.” Grimmjow dropped his voice down low so only Ichigo could hear; unfortunately Renji was close enough to hear as well.

“Ichi, we need to talk. Now.” Renji said, his face a schooled mask trying to hide the rage boiling underneath. Rukia looked at him and shook her head.

“Why Renji? I don’t have anything to say to you unless it’s about this project.”

Just then the ball rang and Ichigo turned back to Grimmjow, “come on we have study hall next. We’ll get a pass to the library and start our research.” He got up and was followed out by Grimmjow and Rukia.

“Hey Ichigo, I’ll meet you in the library too. I have a free period,” said Rukia. “I have something to tell you when we get there.”

XOXOXOXOXOX

Ichigo and Grimmjow were busy reading old history books when Rukia walked up and sat down at the table with the two boys. She looked pissed, madder than Ichigo had ever seen her. “What’s up Rukia? Who pissed you off?”

“That baboon of an ex of yours Ichigo. You should know that he and Maki broke up. Apparently Maki and sensei Kariya have been fuckin’ each other since right after you dropped Renji. Renji walked in on them a few days ago, he was crushed. I laughed my ass off at him, told him karma is bigger bitch than he is. But I have to warn you, he thinks that because you haven’t dated anyone since the break up that you are pining over him. He thinks that he can just slide back into your life and pick up where it left off. Ni-sama told him to leave you alone, that he had done enough damage and that if he caused any problems he’d be out of a job and a place to live. Renji is hard headed and stubborn and never listens.”

Ichigo snorted, “As if. I am not some love sick woman that is just waiting for her true love to return. Screw him, he blew it. Tell Byakuya there is no damage done, if he’s talkin about the old man, I’ll set him straight.”

“Thanks Ichi, Ni-sama had to go into see him after you broke it off with Renji. Apparently your dad spilled all of the sorted details to him and the old man warned Byakuya to take a firmer hold on his charge, he will not stand for any dishonest behavior and that hurting any member of his family is a very bad idea.”

Grimmjow was looking at the two friends mildly confused, who were they talking about? Did Ichigo use to date that pineapple headed guy? Well at least he knew for a fact that Ichigo was gay. That was good news for him. While the other two continued to talk for a few more minutes Grimmjow noticed Renji walking into the library, and he was heading straight for them.

“Um, Berry, don’t look now but that red headed guy from class is headin over here. He looks pretty pissed about something too.” Smirked Grimmjow.

“Ichigo, can I talk to you?” Renji said as he got to the table,” In private?”

“Not now,” Ichigo said refusing to even look at his ex,” if you want to talk to me, wait until lunch. Right now I’m busy doing our assignment.” Ichigo turned back to Grimmjow and Rukia. “So we have a good start here but class is almost over, we’ll meet here again tomorrow.” When the bell rand Ichigo grabbed Grimmjow’s arm and pulled him out of the library.

“Oi, slow down, what’s the hurry?” Grimmjow asked.

“I can’t stand being around him, I do not like dishonest fake people.”

Grimmjow filed this away in his “things about his Berry” file. Their next class was chemistry, it passed quickly with nothing out of the ordinary happening.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Ichigo and Grimmjow went up to the roof to meet everyone for lunch, the sight that greeted them had Ichigo laughing so hard he was crying. Nnoitra was clenching his stomach with a pained look on his face, his color changing from tan to green. His brothers were looking at him strangely and Orihime was beaming.

“Oh no, Nnoitra ate Orihime’s cooking! What was it this time Hime?” Ichigo gasped out trying to catch his breath.

“It’s unagi, wasabi, enoki, daikon, honey and chocolate sauce. Nnoi-kun said it looked good so I gave him some.” Orihime said innocently.

“Nnoitra are you ok? Do you need to go the nurse?” Ulquiorra asked his tone showing concern.

“Nah, it just took a minute to get used too. What possessed you to make that woman?” Nnoitra said finally.

“I like it; it tastes really good to me.”

As everyone laughed at the incredulous look Nnoitra was giving Orihime, Renji walked up to the group. Everyone quieted down watching wondering what he was doing there; he hadn’t been around since Ichigo left him.

“Ichi, can we talk now?” Renji asked looking uncomfortable.

“First I told you before, don’t call me Ichi. Second say what it is you have to say and leave.” Ichigo said.

“I wanted to talk to you in private; I don’t need everyone knowing my business.”

“I’m not going anywhere so spill it or leave.”

“Ok fine, look I made a mistake. I know I hurt you, I know that I was an ass. But I want you back; you were the best thing that ever happened to me. I know I don’t have a right to ask you for forgiveness but I’m begging you for a second chance. You know we are good together, you belong to me. You were happy with me and I’m the only one that can make you feel that way again. You waited for me and now I’m here asking for you to take me back.”

Ichigo looked at him for a moment and smiled. Grimmjow noticed the smile and began to wonder if Ichigo was seriously considering taking this asshole back. He failed to see the evil glint shining in Ichigo’s eyes. Ichigo walked up behind Renji and wrapped his arms around him, resting his chin on Renji’s shoulder. Turning his head to the side he whispered in the red heads ear, “You really are a piece of work, you think that because your man was steppin out on you, you can come crawling back to me?”

Renji stiffened as he watched Ichigo out of the corner of his eye; he noticed two things that made him concerned for his own safety. First, Ichigo had vice like grip on him and second, Ichigo’s eyes were turning golden yellow instead of their normal honey brown. “Shit, he’s pissed! I have to get away from him, NOW!! He’s gonna beat me within an inch of my life!” Renji thought to himself as panic began to engulf him.

“You don’t deserve to have someone like me; you think that because I choose not to date that I was waiting for you? You couldn’t be farther off base; I stayed single because I decided that I would never again settle for a weakling not worthy of licking my boots. I do not belong to you, I never did. You were just a toy to pass the time until someone stronger came along.” Ichigo hissed in Renji’s ear, he could feel the man starting to shake. Ichigo looked up and locked eyes with Grimmjow and smirked, Grimmjow’s eyes narrowed as he noticed the color change of Ichigo’s eyes.

“Hey Shorty,” Grimmjow called to Rukia,” What’s up with the Berry’s eyes?”

Rukia looked closely and gasped, “Chad get him, his eyes!” Ichigo’s friends surged forward and pried the men apart, Chad carrying Ichigo over his shoulder to the other side of the roof.

“Renji leave. You’ve caused enough trouble; you’re lucky the blue kitty noticed Ichigo’s eyes and warned us before it was too late. You have three seconds to be gone or I’ll tell Chad to let him go.” Rukia said as she pulled out her phone, Renji looked at her for a split second and took off. Rukia sighed and started dialing, “Urahara-san, I’m sending Ichigo to you. There was a confrontation and he needs to relieve the tension…..Ummm, I don’t know……the boys from next door are here……hold on,” Rukia looked up and asked “Who here can fight?” All five boys raised their hands, smiling like they might win a prize.

Grimmjow stepped up and looked at the girl, “Ichigo and I were supposed to spar this afternoon, why do you need to know if we can fight?”

“Urahara, yeah Grimmjow was already planning to spar with him this afternoon…..ok……ok……alright…… yes sir, I’ll get the keys from Tessai-san…Chad will be with them…..I understand. Yes sir, goodbye.”

Rukia hung up her phone and looked at Grimmjow, “let’s go. Chad bring Ichigo. We have to stop by and see Tessai first.”

Grimmjow followed the girl wondering what the hell was going on. Chad came up behind him still carrying Ichigo over his shoulder. 

“What kind of freaks have we gotten mixed up with?” Grimmjow wondered.


	6. Chapter 6

After visiting the counselor, who insisted that one of Grimmjow’s brothers accompany them as well (for additional safety), Chad, Grimmjow, Starrk, and Ichigo were walking into the Urahara Shoten.

“Why are we at a candy store?” Grimmjow asked.

“Urahara-san has a dojo in the basement. He is Ichigo’s kyoukan. He’s been training him since he was 9, when Ichigo could no longer attend the regular dojo,” said Chad.

Ichigo growled low in his chest as Chad pushed him toward the hatch in the floor of the back room. “Ichigo don’t struggle, I’ll carry you if I have to.”

“You are gonna have to explain a few things to me, I want to know why we suddenly left school, the counselor wants a extra chaperone for safety, the crazy shop owner has a secret dojo, Ichigo has yellow eyes, and everyone seems to be terrified to be around him. Except you, Chad, why is that? Why am I fighting Ichigo? “Grimmjow demanded.

“You’re fighting me because you don’t look as weak most people, but if you’re too afraid of getting your ass handed to you, I’ll see if Starrk wants to play.” Ichigo sneered earning a shocked look from the blue haired man.

“Watch it kid, I don’t like being insulted. You don’t know anything about me, so you need to watch your mouth. Let’s do this, he’s pissing me off.”

They climbed down the later and entered the dojo, Grimmjow glanced around and had to admit he was impressed, the room was huge! It was painted to look like they were in a desert landscape under a clear blue sky.

“Ok, listen up you two, clean fighting, no weapons, and it ends when one of you goes down. Any objections?” said Chad.

“Nope.”

“Let’s do it.”

Chad and Starrk took position on the far side of the room, settling down to watch.

Ichigo gave Grimmjow an evil smile and launched at him, Grimmjow quickly countered the blow. The two men circled each other for a moment before meeting in the center of the floor again. Their movements were fast, almost a blur to the two men watching. The raw strength exhibited by the combatants was astounding.

“Your friend is strong,” stated Starrk.

“Yes he is, there are not many who can go head to head with him. He has a lot of practice; people like to pick fights with him because of his hair color.”

“Why does he not attend the regular dojo any longer? You said that Urahara has been training him since he can no longer attend it. Is there a reason?”

“Yes, you’re looking at it. He really only fights when forced to, but when his temper gets the better of him, he can be dangerous. His control slips and he cannot hold himself back. This time is not that bad, he still has partial control over himself. That is all I can tell you, the story is Ichigo’s to tell.”

“I respect that, so how about you tell me more about yourself. You are not Japanese are you? My guess would be central American, maybe Mexico?”

“Yes, I and Mexican and Okinowan. I have lived both places. How about you? How did you end up with your family?”

“I was orphaned when I was little, me and my sister. Sosuke and Gin adopted us four years ago. Lilynette is studying abroad this year; she will be home this summer. They found us on the street, we had been kicked out of the foster home we were in after I beat the bastard of a faster father into a coma for trying to molest several of the young girls, my sister was one of them. They didn’t press charges because they were afraid of his secret getting out but they threw up out on the street. We survived alright for a few months, then one day I was fighting off some thugs that were trying to take Lilynette into an alley and Sosuke saw us. He stepped in to help us and offered us a place to stay. 

A few weeks later he come home and handed me the adoption papers and told us that we were now a part of his and Gin’s family, we never had to worry again. Shortly after I began to train with them and took up Mix Martial Arts, all of us kids have. We have several older siblings as well, they no longer live with us but they still come around a lot. So now you know my story, I want to know something about you.”

“What would that be?”

“You are very hard to read, are you straight?”

“No.”

“Are you seeing anyone?”

“No.”

“Would you like to be?”

“Hmmm, it depends.”

“On what?”

“Are you offering?”

“Yes.”

“Can you deal with a slightly obsessed, stalkerish ex?”

“HUH? You have a stalker ex-boyfriend?”

“Yes, he graduated last year and I broke it off because he became too possessive. He tried to fight Ichigo one day when I was sparring with him. It was one of those times that Ichigo lost complete control. Nova thought Ichigo was trying to get in my pants. He’s a little on the crazy side, obsessively jealous. He makes an appearance every few days and follows me around threatening anyone who gets close to me. Except Ichigo, he put him in the hospital the last time. He’s has a healthy fear of Ichigo now.”

“I’m still offering. I can deal with a crazy ex; can you deal with a crazy sister? Lilynette is not a sweet little girl, she’s mean and violent. Pretty much the opposite of me.”

“I can deal with that. So, if this ends anytime soon, would you like to come over for dinner? We can get to know each other some more.”

“Sounds good to me. This looks like it could last a while though, I think I’m gonna take a nap if that’s ok with you.”

“That’s fine; I’ll keep an eye on these two.” Starrk nodded his head and laid down with his head on Chad’s lap, much to Chad’s surprise. After a moment Chad smiled and settled back against the wall running his fingers through Starrk's soft wavy hair, smiling to himself.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Three hours later Chad stood up and walked into the middle of the fight. Neither of the participants noticed him at first, Starrk sat looking at him a confused and concerned look on his face. Was this man crazy? If he got hit by those two he’d get hurt. Starrk began to rise to go and assist his new boyfriend with whatever he was trying to do when Chad suddenly dropped to his knees, his arms shooting out to either side of him, and caught both men in the stomach. The force of the blow pushed both men back several feet. Chad stood up and looked both men over, “ This fight is over, you are both bloody and broken. Your moves have become too slow and weak to let this continue. Ichigo, take Grimmjow to the springs, I’ll bring you both towels and a change of clothes.” With that he turned and walked toward the ladder leading to the shop.” Starrk, keep them from starting up again, I’ll be right back.”

“Damn, he’s right. That hit shouldn’t have fazed me,” Ichigo grumbled,” come on blueberry, the springs are over here. I don’t know what Kisuke puts in them but you heel a lot faster after you soak in them.”

“Blueberry? What the hell Strawberry? First your short friend calls me a blue kitty and now you call me blueberry! My name is Grimmjow, use it.”

“Then stop calling me berry.”

They continued to bicker as they undressed and climbed into the hot spring. Both men were sneaking appreciative glances at each other. Ichigo fought the urge to drool, Grimmjow was gorgeous with his clothes on, he downright mesmerizing with his clothes off. His body looked as though it had been carved out granite, all hard planes and harsh angles. “Wow, he is a physical god.” Thought Ichigo to himself.  
Meanwhile Grimmjow was admiring Ichigo’s lithe body, he was build smaller and slightly softer than himself. “I wonder what it would feel like to run my hands over that body of his?” Their mutual thoughts were interrupted by Chad and Starrk’s arrival.

“Here you go, we need to get ready to head out Ichigo, Urahara just called, we need to meet him at Shinji’s. He said it’s important and that we’re not meeting here today for reasons he’ll explain later.” Chad said quietly.

“That’s ok you two, Aizen-san called as well. We need to get home, they said that they need to talk with us. Oh and Nel, Harribel, and Szayel will be there as well,” said Starrk,” I guess our dinner will have to be put on hold, huh?”

“It would appear so, if you get done early call me. Maybe we can still get together later if it’s not too late.”

“I’ll call you anyway, even if it’s just to talk.”

Ichigo and Grimmjow watched the two men making plans as they walked away, turning to each other they laughed.

“Looks like my brothers and your friends are a good match, so far Nnoi and Shinji and Chad and Starrk. I wonder if there are any others we haven’t heard about yet?”

“Yeah, Rukia said something about Uryuu and Ulquiorra making plans to get together over the weekend.”

“Really? Wow even the emo found someone. Hmm, “ Grimmjow mused, he looked up at Ichigo and decided to ask the questions that had been plaguing him most of the day. “So you wanna tell me what happened back on the roof?”

Ichigo took a deep breath and sighed, he knew he was gonna ask eventually. He deserved an answer but how much to tell was another story.


	7. Chapter 7

Ichigo looked at the man who was watching him expectantly, eyes silently demanding an answer. Ichigo sighed, rising from the spring, as he grabbed a towel he turned back around, “I’ll tell what you want to know, but right now we don’t have the time for that story. Come by tonight around 8 as long as we’re both back. Let’s get going, I don’t know how Aizen is but if I’m late Getabouchi will have my ass.”

“Oh shit, Aizen will kill me! Let’s get going.” As he climbed out of the water Ichigo couldn’t help but admire how he looked with water running down his toned body. “Shit, I’m turning into a girl, crushing on the hot new guy. Well at least he’s strong enough to keep up with me.”

Chad and Starrk were waiting for them outside the shop, talking to Tessai and two preteen children. “Hey, Chad, ready? Hi Tessai, Ururu, Jinta how’s it going?”

“Good carrot-top, what are you doing here?”

“Sparring.”

“Your partner is still walking by himself, nice.”

Grimmjow looked at the little red headed boy and laughed, “He’s strong, but not strong enough to put me down.”

“I like you,” Jinta said,” Urahara is gonna be pissed carrot top, you might wanna run!”

“Shit, come on Chad!” With that the two ran off, leaving a laughing Grimmjow and Jinta.

XOXOXOXOXOX

“Your late, I guess I can excuse it this time considering. How did your new sparring partner hold up Ichi?” Kisuke asked as the two ran into Shinji’s apartment. The group gathered there looked at Ichigo curiously.

“He held his own against him for three hours before I called the fight,” said Chad.

“How far gone were you Ichigo?”

“Not completely. I still had enough control to only scare the shit out of Renji.”

“Wow baldy, I gotta meet this guy, anyone who can stand toe to toe wi’ ya might be worth tryin’ to get to join us,” said a small blond girl.

“Sorry Hiyori, he won’t be joining us. He already has a contract with Hueco Mundo.” Said Kisuke,” now, since everyone is here let’s get going.”

“What do you mean he already has a contract? How do you know this? Where are we going?” asked Ichigo.

“I have my sources, and we are going to the Seireitei dojo. We are having a joint meeting. Ichigo, it’s time for you to let your family know that you’ve been offered a contract by Hogyoku and make your decision regarding which company you are gonna sign with, if any.”

“Shit, you could have warned me. My family is gonna flip shit on me!”

“You’ll be fine; you know that your family loves me. Especially your dad, he tells me every time we...”

“SHUT UP! You pervert, I don’t want to hear that shit about my dad!”

Everyone was laughing as they made their way down the street.

XOXOXOXOXOX

“Ok, everyone listen up. We have a lot of information to cover in a short amount of time!” called Urahara after everyone had settled down and took a seat in the main dojo. Ichigo noticed that Renji was shooting him anxious looks. “For those of you who don’t know me, I am Urahara Kisuke, owner of Hogyoku Martial Arts. I am a former member of Seireitei; I was one of the original 13 Shinigami. There has been a change in the status of my company and Seireitei, as of this afternoon the two companies merged. Each company will maintain their name and their elite fighters, I will keep the Vizored and Byakuya will keep the Shinigami. All amateur and new fighters will be rotated between the dojos for a more varied training experience. Kuchiki-san, do you have anything to add?”

A tall dark haired man stepped forward, he looked around the room without emotion, “I have been given the position as head of the Shinigami, and I require no less than Yamamoto-sama and will accept nothing short of it. Absolute loyalty and respect are not optional. Now I would like to extend an offer to Kurosaki Ichigo to sign as a Shinigami. I understand that you may want to think it over first, I will give you until the end of the week to decide.”

Ichigo stood up to address the invitation when the door slid open and his dad and grandfather walked in. “I was hoping to address that subject with my family as well. I guess there is no time like the present, I appreciate the offer Byakuya and I will consider it along with the offer I received last week from Urahara to sign as a Vizored. He has been my kyoukan now for 8 years and I cannot dismiss his offer solely for family ties.”

Everyone was looking at Ichigo like he was crazy; no one wanted to be him at the moment.

“Ahem,” Yamamoto cleared his throat getting everyone’s attention immediately,”Ichigo, this is your choice. As head of your family, I promise that we will not hold anything against you, this is your decision to make alone.”

“Thank you, ojiisan.”

“Now, I ask that everyone make room, we have another group arriving. Shinigami please stay together, same with the Vizored. You will be separate entities under the new company. Ahh, our other guests have arrived.”

Ichigo’s jaw dropped as he watched Aizen, Gin and a large group of people walk in. Grimmjow saw him and smiled, this was a pleasant surprise.

“Let me introduce you to Aizen Sosuke and Ichimaru Gin, they are the owners of Hueco Mundo. As of this afternoon a contract was signed to merge Seireitei, Hogyoku, and Hueco Mundo into one company. We are now known as Soul Society, Aizen would you like to say anything?”

“I am Aizen; Hueco Mundo was an Osaka based company that we recently relocated to Karakura. Me and my partner Gin are from here originally, we are also two of the original 13 Shinigami under Seireitei. My company will retain its group of elite fighters, they are known as the Espada. The rest will be integrated into the dojo rotations.”

“Now for the tediousness involved in this kind of merger, all contracts are now void.” Yamamoto said and everyone erupted in outrage, ”ENOUGH! New contracts have been drawn up, everyone will be required to submit to a new physical, and a new code of conduct has been agreed on. The first groups of physicals are already scheduled for tomorrow, Tessai had already been informed of you pending absence and has it covered. The Shinigami, Vizored, and Espada are to report to Kurosaki Clinic tomorrow morning at 9am. When you’ve been cleared by Dr. Kurosaki you will be given your new contracts and code of conduct to review and sign. This is not open for debate. Now, this meeting is over. Take some time to get to know your new teammates.”

XOXOXOXOX

Ichigo and Grimmjow walked behind the group making its way down the street heading home.

“So this is an interesting development. I didn’t know you were a MMA fighter,” said Grimmjow.

“I’m not, at least not yet. I have until the end of the week to decide if I want to do it and with which company. Aizen even offered me a spot with the Espada.” Ichigo grumbled, “This is too much.”

“Well let’s not think about that tonight. You still owe me an explanation for earlier. Why did your eyes change color?”

Ichigo took a deep breath and began his story.

Nine years ago

The rain was coming down hard as Ichigo and his mother walked home from the dojo.

“Mommy I got a hit on Tatsuki today!”

“That’s good baby, I’m proud of you.”

They continued to walk hand in hand, not noticing the three men following them. Ichigo felt himself being pulled away from his mother and her screaming, and then everything went black.

Ichigo woke hours later in the hospital, his dad was sitting by his bed crying.

“Daddy, what’s wrong? Where’s mom?”

“I’m sorry Ichigo, your mom didn’t survive. My dear Masaki has gone to Heaven.”

“I was told about a week later that mom had been stabbed, one of her attackers had been stabbed as well. He survived, but whatever had happened to him caused him to have a mental break down. He kept telling the police it was a demon child, that his golden eyes would haunt him forever,” Ichigo said, chancing a glance at Grimmjow to see if he had put it together yet. “I started getting into fights after that, I fought anyone who dared to make fun of me or look at me funny. I got kicked out of the dojo for being too violent. Urahara took up my training and he’s the one who figured out that I had a problem.”

“Hmm, so you’re telling me that at 9, you blacked out and stabbed a man who attacked your mother. What is this problem?”

“I have a dissociative personality disorder. As Rukia puts it, I have mood eyes, kinda like those old mood rings that change color with your mood. My eyes turn yellow when I lose my temper; Urahara says it’s an indicator of my latent personality taking over.”

“So you have a split personality?”

“No I have a repressed part of my own personality. There is only one person in here,” Ichigo said tapping his head,” just an extreme repressed rage that not many see. My friends and family have nicknamed that part of me Shiro, I don’t know why but they think it’s funny.”

“So, what I saw today was Shiro?”

“Only a portion of him, I still had most of the control, when I get to far gone it’s like I go to sleep and Shiro takes over, when that happens it’s like unleashing the furies on the world. Nobody, not even Chad, can handle me alone. So now that you know how crazy I am I guess that I won’t be seeing much of you, huh?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth, Berry. I don’t think you’re that crazy. I actually find you fascinating, but I am going to offer you a small piece of advice. Do you remember seeing the man with the pink hair? That is Szayel; don’t let him know about this, he may try to experiment on you.”

“Another one?! Damn I have my hands full with Mayuri already.”

“??”

“He’s one of the Shinigami. Fuckin creepy bastard. He tends to blend into the background so you probably didn’t notice him. He keeps demanding I give him samples to study.”

“Samples”

“Yeah, blood, urine, hair, skin, semen….He’s nuts.”

“We should introduce him and Szay; I think it might be a match made in hell.”

They continued to talk sitting on the front porch of Grimmjow’s house well into the early morning hours.


	8. Chapter 8

Grimmjow was the first in line for his physical that morning, he never went to bed, he just came over at 7 that morning when Ichigo finally went in to help set up for the day.

“Ok, other than being exhausted from being up all night with my son, you are healthy as a horse. I do recommend that you try to get a few hours of sleep before you try to look over your contracts, legal paperwork always needs to be examined with a critical eye.” Isshin said, humor dancing in his eyes, “I understand that you have a house full of people right now and sleep will be impossible, so why don’t you grab Ichigo and go crash in his room. He’s asleep on his feet anyhow; the girls will be more than enough help for the day.”

“Umm, ok?” Grimmjow said a little confused, why would this man send him to sleep with his son?

“Oh and Grimmjow, don’t hurt him. I am not one to piss off.”

“Yes sir.” Grimmjow walked out of the exam room and found Ichigo leaning on a wall falling asleep on his feet. “Oi! Berry come on, your dad said to grab you and go get some sleep. He expects me to crash in your room where it’s quiet. If you would rather I’ll just head home.”

“*yawn* nah, come on. It’s definitely quieter here, I went to put the trash out a few minutes ago and they can probably hear your house all the way back in Osaka. Come on, I’m gonna *yawn* pass out any second.”

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow and followed the smaller man out of the clinic. They were both too tired to notice a certain red head walk thru the door and watch them with a dark look on his face. “Are they actually together?” wondered Renji to himself. He turned and walked into the clinic for his physical. “Maybe I can get some information from Isshin. I know I’m gonna have to explain my injuries to him already.” Rukia had told Byakuya about the confrontation with Ichigo the day before and he didn’t take it well. Renji’s punishment was a long and involved sparring session with the older man, hours of all out weapons training with swords. Byakuya handled his sword like it was part of his arm, fluid and graceful, and oh so deadly.

XOXOXOX

Ichigo pulled out two pairs of sweatpants and threw one to Grimmjow,”Here, unless you want to sleep in your jeans.”

“No, to uncomfortable. Thanks. So where so I sleep?”

“I have an extra futon we can pull out or if you promise to keep your hands to yourself, my bed is big enough for both of us.”

“Bed, I hate futons, they are so uncomfortable. I can’t promise I won’t feel you up in my sleep though,” Grimmjow smirked.

“I won’t promise you that I won’t beat your ass in my sleep. I guess we’ll have to take our chances.” Ichigo said as he changed his cloths and climbed into bed moving all the way across it to make room for the other man. Grimmjow smirked again and started to undress fully aware that Ichigo was watching him. As he unbuttoned his belt he was glad that he never wore underwear, he’d give Ichigo a quick show. 

As his pants hit the floor he heard a sharp inhale from the man openly admiring his nakedness.

“I hope you don’t mind, I hate underwear, never wear them.”

“Um, its fine I guess. Why don’t you like underwear?”

“To restrictive, and boxers are like not wearing any so why bother?”

“I see your point. Come on I’m tired. I hope you don’t toss and turn too much, if you do I’ll kick your ass out of bed and you can sleep on the floor.”

“Move over, I’ll keep to my side of the bed if you can keep to yours.”

“Ass go to sleep!”

“Yes dear.”

Ichigo growled and turned over to face the wall as Grimmjow climbed in bed. As he shifted to get comfortable he got a bright idea, he rolled on his side facing Ichigo and wrapped his arm around his narrow waist pulling him back so he rested his back against Grimmjow’s front.

“Grimm, what are you doing?”

“Getting comfortable, it’s cold in here your warm. Stop squirming and go to sleep.”

“Fine.” Ichigo huffed giving in way to easy; Grimmjow smiled and buried his nose in Ichigo’s hair, finally drifting off into a content sleep.

XOXOXOXOX

Later that afternoon as the two boys slept wrapped around each other, neither was aware of the four men standing in the doorway looking in. Isshin quietly closed the door and ushered the other three back down stairs into the kitchen. He smiled as they sat down around the table to have tea.

“Isshin, should I worry about your son and mine? They looked awfully cute together sleeping like that. Do you think that Ichigo will base his decision on his budding relationship with Grimmjow? I hope not, he seems like such a smart boy.”

“Don’t worry Sosuke, Ichigo will base his decision on what he wants, for himself not what he wants for with anyone else. You may have your hands full if he and Grimmjow end up together though, you are already aware of Shiro.”

“Shiro is still an issue?”

“Yes, Ichigo has learned to control it for the most part, but there are the occasions that he reaches the full on black out stage. Byakuya told me that Grimmjow helped out with a partial emergence yesterday, he held his own for three hours. Chad called the fight when Ichigo was back in control. From what I have seen and heard from you, Grimmjow might be a catalyst. If he’s as volatile as you say he might not be good for Ichigo, he may cause Shiro to come out more.”

“I don’ think that will be a problem, I watched the two a them last night, Grimm was ‘is usual self an’ Ichi took it all in stride. They argued and fought but neither lost their temper, and your son can dish it out just as well as ours can,” said Gin, “I think that they might be made for each other.”

“Who’s made for each other?” asked a sleepy Ichigo, walking into the dining room followed by an equally groggy Grimmjow.

“Why you and Grimmjow of course! You two were so cute sleeping together, Ichi-kun,” exclaimed Kisuke is his most annoying sing song voice, “Much better matched than Renji.”

“Gah! What are you a peeping tom? You perverted baka; keep your deviance focused on my dad!” Ichigo yelled. Grimmjow looked at the two men in question and cocked his head to the side.

“Yes Grimmjow, they are together, have been for six years. And they delight in torturing me with graphic details of their perverted escapades,” growled Ichigo, “look I want food and paperwork. Give me the contracts to look over and I’ll go out and grab something to eat. Wanna come Grimmjow?”

“Yeah, I’m starved. Aizen I’ll take the paper work with us and go over it.”

“That’s fine boys, here you go. Ichigo there are three sets of contracts in here, please think hard about what you want,” said Kisuke handing the boys each a manila envelope.

“Thanks, come on Grimm, I’ll drive.”

Twenty minutes later after they had cleaned up Grimmjow met Ichigo out-front. He whistled as he walked up and looked at the motorcycle Ichigo was leaning against. He caught the helmet that Ichigo tossed to him. “I didn’t know you rode, what kind is this?”

“I’ve been riding for two years. This is a Harley Davidson Crossbones. I got it for my 18th birthday from my ojiisan. I try to get out as much as possible on it but I haven’t been able to lately. Come on lets go.”

Grimmjow climbed on behind Ichigo and held on to his waist as he took off. They rode through town and after about half an hour they pulled into the parking lot of small diner. When they walked in the door Ichigo was immediately pounced n by a strawberry blond woman. She looked like she was smothering Ichigo in her LARGE breasts.

“Ah! Rangiku your smothering me, get those death traps you call tits out of my face!” yelled Ichigo turning bright red.

“Aww, Ichi your no fun. So who’s your new friend here? Table for two?” the woman asked noticing Grimmjow.

“Oh, Rangiku this is Grimmjow, Grimmjow this is Rangiku, Orihime’s older sister. Don’t eat her cooking either. Yeah table for two, in a quiet area. We need to go over some paper work. Oh that reminds me, you need to go see Byakuya, since you missed the meeting yesterday. You need a new physical and have to sign a new contract, call Tosh he’ll explain everything.”

“Ok, I’ll call him on my break. Come with me I’ll seat you in the back. It’s pretty slow right now so it’s basically empty.”

After they were seated and gave their orders they pulled out the paperwork and started reading. Grimmjow signed his without any hesitation. Ichigo had a harder time; he had three offers in front of him and no idea what he wanted to do.

Sitting back Ichigo let out a groan, rubbing his hand over his face in frustration. “God, this sucks! I’ve got three really good offers here, and I can’t decide which one to take.”

“Well let’s hear them; maybe talking them out will help. You don’t have to give me any real specifics, just general terms.”

“Well they are all 5 year contracts, the benefits are all comparable, the pay isn’t bad with any of the three, but ojiisan offers more perks and control over my own schedule. That doesn’t surprise me though; he wants me to take over for him eventually. Kisuke if offering a set schedule and a leadership role among the Vizored and Aizen is offering more money than the other two. To be honest Aizen’s offer is at the bottom of the list, I am more inclined to stick with where my loyalties lie. So truthfully I’m torn between the Shinigami and the Vizored. What do you think?”

“Well, you have family on one side and your long time kyoukan on the other. However, your kyoukan is also part of your family, so either way you’re still with your family. Kisuke seems like a very smart man and you could learn a lot about running the business from him, so your ojiisan won’t object to that. To me it seems like the Vizored are the better fit for you. And because of your ties with both groups you would make an excellent go between for them.”

“It took you about five minutes to make sense out of what I’ve been staring at for an hour. You suck.”

“Yes I do, I’ve been told I’m quite talented.”

“W-what?”

“I am just putting it out there, no pressure.”

“Am I surrounded by perverts?”

“Only for you.” Grimmjow smirked as Ichigo blushed.

Ichigo signed his contract and the two men left and headed for home. On the ride Ichigo began to wonder if he was ready to get into another relationship. By the time they pulled into the driveway Ichigo had made up his mind.


	9. Chapter 9

Ichigo put the bike in the garage and came back out to hang out with Grimmjow. As they took up their places from the previous night on the porch, Ichigo studied Grimmjow carefully. He was a beautiful man, he was smart, and his personality complimented Ichigo’s own. The fact that he was in the same business as Ichigo and able to handle his “Shiro” moments were a huge bonus. As the two of them talked Ichigo began to feel more comfortable with his decision.

“Hey Grimm, can I ask you a serious question?”

“Always Ichi, what’s up?”

“Why are you always flirting with me?”

“Its fun and you blush so easily.”

“Do you like me?”

“Do you want me to like you?”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“I don’t want to scare you away. I heard Rukia said that you were gun shy after that asshole Renji cheated on you.”

“Ah, she’s got it all wrong. I’m not gun shy. I don’t want to waste my time with a weakling again; Renji was a waste of my time. I thought I loved him, but it was more like I was complacent with him. I’ve known him for years, since elementary school. But it wasn’t love; I figured that out before he cheated on me, I drug out the break up to make him miserable.”

“Really? Have you found someone who is worth your time?”

“I think so; I just need to know if he likes me. I don’t want to waste my time if he’s not interested, and I don’t do one night stands or friends with benefits. I want a serious relationship.”

“That’s good to know. I don’t do casual either. So this guy you like, has he tried to kiss you yet?”

“No.”

“Do you want him to?”

“Yes.”

That last word came out as a barely audible breath as Grimmjow leaned into Ichigo, pausing for a split second before pressing his lips against Ichigo’s. Ichigo sighed into the kiss, the gentle pressure increasing slowly. Grimmjow brought one hand up to cup the side of Ichigo’s face as he licked at his lower lip asking for entrance, which Ichigo granted willingly. Grimmjow’s tongue slowly moved forward to meet Ichigo’s half way. As their wet appendages began to twist and rub each other Ichigo let out a low moan. Grimmjow tasted like sin, dark chocolate and mint, he felt like he would never be able to get enough. 

At some point Ichigo had buried his hands in Grimmjow’s hair and was gently pulling it deepening the kiss. Grimmjow was floating on cloud nine; he had Ichigo in his arms and was drowning in the feeling of him. Grimmjow gently tugged on Ichigo causing him to shift forward and slide into his lap, allowing Grimmjow’s hands freedom to roam over the body he’d been dreaming about for days. After awhile the need for air drove them to break the kiss. Panting they stared into each other’s eyes, unable to look away.

“Mmm, Ichi,” Grimmjow husked,” I could kiss you forever and never get enough.” Ichigo gave a little smile and leaned in for another kiss, where their first kiss was tender and gentle, this kiss was hard and passionate. Ichigo bit Grimmjow’s bottom lip causing him to gasp, Ichigo took advantage and thrust his tongue into the inviting cavern, sweeping across Grimmjow’s teeth and along the roof of his mouth, exploring and tasting every part of Grimmjow’s mouth before allowing the other man to do the same. Grimmjow growled deep down in his chest, he wanted more; he needed to feel more of the lithe body pressing against him. The two men were so lost in each other that they didn’t hear the front door open.

“I would appreciate it if you two would keep any future erotic displays in your room, or if you must indulge in your exhibitionist desires, charge admission.” The boys jumped apart at the sound of Aizen’s amused voice. Ichigo flying off of Grimmjow’s lap and turning bright red. “I am going to have to call an end to your night; you both have school tomorrow and need your rest. You can maul each other more come tomorrow. Goodnight Ichigo.”

“Um, good night Aizen-san.” With that Aizen walked back into the house chuckling.

“Ugh, I can’t believe him, I’m sorry Ichi. I got sorta carried away.”

“So did I. At least it wasn’t my dad; he’d still be out here telling us about the benefits of lube and what type of condoms to use.”

“Really? I thought my family was screwed up.”

“I guess we should call it a night, I’ll meet you out here in the morning.” Ichigo leaned in and gave him a chaste kiss before turning to leave. He walked into his house, ducking under his father’s attack and walked up to his room, a dazed smile on his face the entire time. 

As he fell into bed he noticed that his pillow still held Grimmjow’s sent, burying his face in it he couldn’t help but think that he’d be having good dreams tonight.


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning Ichigo woke up in such a good mood his alarm clock survived and Isshin violent attempt at a wakeup call didn’t dampen his spirits at all. He dressed quickly and joined his family for breakfast, a silly grin plastered on his face.

“What’s wrong with Ichi-nii?” asked Yuzu a concerned look on her face.

“Nothing my dear daughter, Daddy has it on good authority that your forlorn brother has found a new love. My dear friend told me that interrupted a very passionate public display of affection last night,” Isshin crowed,” Oh Masaki, our son has love into his heart again!!!!”

“Shut it old man!” yelled Karin, kicking her father off of his chair.

“Masaki, out children are so mean to me! I only want to show them love and suppo-“Isshin was cut off by Ichigo’s foot to the side of his head.

“Oi, shut up! Stay out of my private life! Psychotic old goat!” Ichigo yelled as he walked out the front door.

Grimmjow and his brothers were out front waiting for him when he walked out the door still yelling at his father. He looked up when he heard them laughing, “Ichigo, is this going to be an every morning show? Don’t you and your dad ever stop?” Shuhei said laughing.  
Ichigo was interrupted before he could answer by the Isshin bursting through the door yelling, “My son, let daddy tell you about the benefits of using lubrication to ease the discomfort of—“thankfully he was cut off from further idiocy by Karin coming up behind him and sweeping his legs out from under him and landing a solid round house kick to his temple. Isshin slumped to the ground in a drooling unconscious heap. 

Karin stepped over his body muttering loudly,” Stupid goat-face idiot. Why can’t he be normal? Nobody wants to hear revolting sex advice. Perverts, all of them!” Karin looked over her shoulder at Ichigo,”You’re welcome by the way, next time I won’t stop him.” With that she closed the door.

“Um, what was that?” asked Nnoitra, “did your little sister just knock out your dad? And what the hell was he going on about?”

“Let’s get going before he wakes up,” growled Ichigo,”he’s being a perverted bastard. Be careful or he’ll start to include you in his idiocy. And yeah, Karin kicks his ass all the time; she’s a lot stronger than she looks. She has a kick that launches a soccer ball hard enough to crack concrete.”

“Well shit,” whistled Starrk,” it looks like you come from a formidable family.”

“Yeah, Yuzu is the only one who doesn’t fight. She is the motherly one, always trying to take care of everyone.”

“So Ichi, is there any particular reason that your dad way touting the benefits of lubrication? Could it possibly have anything to do with the reason Gin has been making kissy noises at Grimmjow all morning?” inquired Ulquiorra, mirth coming through in his normally monotone voice.

“I told you earlier, drop it,” Grimmjow growled,” come on Ichi, let’s go.”

“Ohh, Ichi, so I guess we can assume that you two are together then?” cooed Shuhei.

“Fuck off!” With that Grimmjow grabbed Ichigo’s arm and pulled him ahead of the rest of the group. As they neared the school Grimmjow slowed down and released Ichigo’s arm. “Sorry, I couldn’t take them anymore. So I take it your dad knows about last night?”

“Yeah, Aizen told him.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s ok, I already know what to expect from him, and I did warn you last night.”

“I thought you were joking, I really didn’t expect to hear about lube this morning,” Grimmjow laughed. He was watching Ichigo closely as they walked into their homeroom class. He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of last night’s events. Were he and the berry seeing each other? Was it a onetime thing? Shit he sounded like a girl; he wasn’t comfortable with this direction of inner turmoil. As he opened his mouth to ask Ichigo where they stood with each other, the other man interrupted his thoughts.

“Grimm, about last night,” Ichigo said quietly, “I told you already I don’t do casual, if you don’t want to commit to there being an us, last night was a onetime thing.”

“I was just about to ask you about that, I want there to be an us, do you?”

“I’d like to give it a try; I think we could be good together.” Ichigo said blushing. Grimmjow smiled and leaned over a placed a chaste kiss on Ichigo’s lips, just as the rest of their friends and family walked in the door. The hooting and cat calls didn’t stop until the teacher walked in and ordered everyone into their seats.

“I have a few announcements to make, first-our school counselor will be out for the next six weeks, any issues that arise will be dealt with by your homeroom teachers. Second, we have a large number of students who will be absent as well for the next six weeks, there for all class projects will be suspended until they return. This does not include regular class assignments however. Those of you that will be absent will be given packets with all of the assignments that you will need to complete and turn in when you return. Third, during free periods and study halls the National MMA tournament will be televised for those that wish to watch. Any questions?”

“Hey Ichi, what’s the deal? Why are they so accommodating and focused on the tournament?” Grimmjow asked.

“Didn’t Aizen explain to you what is so special about this school?” asked Rukia.

“No, we assumed it was a normal high school and that we were gonna have the same issues we did with our last school. We were kicked out for missing too many days due to competition and injury.”

“Sensei, can we have passes to go to the gym? I’d like to show our newest students why Karakura High School is different from any school they have ever been seen,” asked Rukia. The teacher gave them all passes and Rukia was soon leading a very confused group of people behind her.

When they walked into the gym they looked around bewildered, the gym was not a typical gym. The gym was fashioned to resemble a large dojo; split into four sections each representing one of the four elements. Standing in the middle of the room was one of the largest men they had ever seen, he must have been almost 7 feet tall, his black hair was pulled up in long spikes tipped with small silver bells, he had a long scar running down the side of his face and his eye was covered by a black eye patch. As the door closed behind them the man looked up and a grin threatened to split the man’s face in half. 

“Ichigo, are you here to give me my rematch?” Asked the man looking more deranged than not.

“No Kenpachi, we’re here to explain a few things to the new students. Don’t let us disturb your training session.” Ichigo said, keeping a wary eye on the man.

“Hey Kenny! Ichi came to play! Yay!” A pink blur squealed as it flew past, a moment later a small girl with bubble gum pink hair popped up over Kenpachi's shoulder.

“Not today Yachiru, sorry.” Said Ichigo.

“Aww, come on Ichi. One quick spar, let’s show these peons what they can expect if they choose to follow this path. If you don’t I’ll chase you down, again.” Smirked Kenpachi.

“Come on Ichigo, it’s not a bad idea,” said Rukia, “twenty minute time limit, clean spar, not fatal blows. While you do that I can explain things to these guys.”

“Ichigo, are you really gonna fight that guy?” asked Grimmjow.

Ichigo smirked; turning to Kenpachi he called “you heard the midget, do you agree to the terms?”

“Yes.”

“Let me change, I’ll be back in a second.” He turned to the group and motioned them to follow him, Rukia waited outside the men’s locker room patiently. “When you are assigned this class you will all change in here, the Shinigami and Vizored have a private room in the back, come on. The Espada will most likely be assigned lockers here too. You don’t need to bring cloths they are provided for you.” Ichigo explained as he quickly changed into a pair of loose fitting drawstring pants and black wife beater. He sat on the bench and began to quickly tape his hands and ankles. “Come on, Rukia can explain the rest, if I don’t get out there Kenpachi will be in here trying to drag me out. Don’t worry Grimm; this isn’t my first time fighting him.”

When the men emerged from the locker room Kenpachi had the students in his class move back along the walls to observe. Yachiru had joined Rukia to talk with her charges. They watched in silence for a couple of minutes as the two me began a beautifully violent and potentially deadly dance.

“Ok, so here’s the deal. Karakura high is owned and funded by Seireitei, this is a private school. There is no tuition, per say, but everyone who attends has aspirations to me a professional fighter. This class is to assess and teach various levels of basic technique. It weeds out the worthy from the useless before they have a chance to waist the time of the actual dojos. If they can get Kenpachi’s approval they are accepted into Seireitei to begin their actual training and semi-pro careers. That is why the school accommodates the schedules of the students who miss classes for competition, injuries, and anything else concerning their careers. Not everyone here is a potential future combatant; we also have students here that are studying to enter into the administrative side of the business. Ichigo’s dad even teaches classes on sports medicine to those that want to be trainers. I’m sure you noticed your classes are not typical high school level classes, that is because they are set up to encompass college level courses as well, by the time you graduate high school you will have the equivalent of an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration. Any Questions?”

“Yeah, I got one,” said Nnoitra,” is Ichigo gonna survive this fight? That man looks like he wants his blood.”

“Yeah, Ichigo is fine. He’s not even winded yet, and Kenpachi looks like that even in his sleep.”

“Kenny is having fun! He’d never kill Ichi, he’s his best friend and if he died Kenny wouldn’t have anyone to play with, “piped up Yachiru.

Shuhei looked at the small girl quizzically,” who are you? Aren’t you a little young to be in high school?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Rukia,” this is Kusajika Yachiru, Kenpachi’s adopted daughter. She is basically home schooled here, she was kicked out of the school system. They told Kenpachi she is to hyper and exhibits extreme violent tendencies. She likes to draw Kenpachi beating up people and she is a strong fighter with a hair trigger temper.” Rukia explained, glancing at her watch, “Alright Yachiru, it’s been 20 minutes, lets break it up.” The little girl jumped up and started running in circles waiting for Rukia to get to where the two men were fighting still. Rukia moved into position behind Ichigo and waited for Yachiru, who had gained enough speed that when she launched herself at her father she looked like a pink bullet. Yachiru hit the large man dead center of his chest and brought him down, Rukia at the same time move in and took Ichigo’s legs out from under him. Again, Grimmjow had the thought, “What kind of freaks did I get myself involved with?”

XOXOXOXOX

As they walked to their next class, there was a chorus of cell phone alerts; all of them had received the same message, MEETING 2:45, SHINIGAMI DOJO. SCHEDULE FOR TRAING AND MATCHES FOR NATIONALS. BRING SIGNED CONTRACTS OR ELSE.


	11. Chapter 11

The school day passed quickly with only one minor annoyance, Renji showed up again at lunch and stayed the entire time. He appeared to be trying to mend the fences with his friends but kept his distance from Ichigo and Aizen’s boys. By the time school let out everyone was starting to feel the excitement that built up before a major competition. The group made their way to the dojo pushing and taunting each other the entire way. When they entered they all split into their respective groups, Ichigo went to stand by his grandfather, he had not announced his decision yet and was supposed to do so today. 

“Alright now that everyone is here, let us begin this meeting. First order of business, bring your contracts up, hand them to Ishida Ryuuken and Ishida Uryuu. Once they have all been verified we will move on,” Yamamoto began. After all the contracts had been verified the meeting was called to order again. “Ok, I want everyone to form your ranks in your perspective groups and we will get down to business.” It took a few minutes to get the large number of people situated and out of each other’s way.

“Ichigo, would you please inform us of which dojo you have signed your allegiance? We have all been curiously awaiting your decision.”

Ichigo looked up and smiled, “ Yamamoto-sama, after a lot of thought and soul searching I have decided to sign as a Vizored, I feel this is the best suited spot for me, I do not have to divide my loyalty to family and Urahara-Sensei is an excellent teacher who can instruct me in all aspects of the business. I thank you, Aizen-san for your offer it was generous but not right for me.” With that Ichigo took his place next to Shinji to await is rank placement.

Yamamoto smiled and nodded his head, showing his approval of Ichigo’s choice and reasons. “Our next order of business is to introduce every to their new team mates. We will start with the Shinigami as they are the largest group here. Kuchiki-san, if you would.”

Byakuya stepped up and introduced the Shinigami, “We are arranged into 13 sections, also called the Gotei 13. 1st squad is Yamamoto Shigekuni and Sasakibe Chujiro, 2nd is Soi Fon and Omaeda Marechiyo, 3rd is Amagai Shusuke and Kira Izuru, 4th is Unohana Retsu and Kutetsu Isane, 5th is Shihoin Yoruichi and Hinamori Momo, 6th is Kuchiki Byakuya and Abari Renji, 7th is Komamura Sajin and Iba Tetsuzaemon, 8th is Kyoraku Shunsui and Ise Nanao, 8th is Kifune Makato and our newest member Hisagi Shuhei, 10th is Hitsugaya Toshiro and Matsumoto Rangiku, 11th is Zaraki Kenpachi and Kusajishi Yachiru, 12th is Kurusuchi Mayuri and Kurusuchi Nemu, and the 13th is Ukitake Jushiro and Shiba Kaien. There are several “seated” members that step in when needed but they are not here today. Urahara-san if you could introduce the Vizored.”

“We do not have nearly as large a group; starting from the top of our hierarchy we have Kurosaki Ichigo, Hirako Shinji, Sarugaki Hiyori, Muguruma Kensei, Yadomaru Lisa, Aikawa Love, Otoribashi Rose, Kuna Mashiro, and Ushoda Hachigen. Aizen-san, if you would.”

“The Espada are a small group as well, starting from the strongest Coyote Starrk, Luisenbarn Baraggan, Harribel Tia, Cifer Ulquiorra, Gilga Nnoitra, Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow, Rureaux Zommari, Granz Szayel Aporro, Arrurerie Aaroniero, and Llargo Yammy. We have several back up fighters as well; the only one in attendance today is Neliel Tu Odelschwanck. She handles our legal and public relations departments.”

“Alright now that introductions have been made, each dojo leader has your schedules, training begins tomorrow, and that means make sure you get plenty of rest. After you get your schedules if your dojo leader says so you may leave.” Yamamoto said.

Ichigo received his schedule and stood by Urahara to observe and learn. When all the schedules had been handed out, Urahara dismissed the Vizored, and followed Isshin walking out the door. Everyone knew that the next few months were going to be hectic and to enjoy this last free night with loved ones.

“Hey Ichi, you ready? Aizen let us go for the night. Let’s grab some dinner and head back to my house.”

“Sounds good, I just have one thing to take care of first,” Ichigo said watching as Byakuya finished talking to Yamamoto and was glaring at Renji. Ichigo walked up to the red head and grabbed his arm, hauling over to where Byakuya stood only a few feet from the old man. 

“Byakuya, can I speak with you concerning Renji?”

“Of course, Kurosaki,” the stoic man replied glaring at Renji again, “what seems to be the issue?”

“Well it has been brought to my attention recently that Renji has been treated unfairly. I was not aware that my personal life was subject to such scrutiny, without a valid contract binding me to you. Now I know that Renji was under contract and his morals were questionable, whatever punishment you deemed suitable for that is your own prerogative. However, I have been lead to believe that certain members of this organization saw fit to incorporate punishment not fitting the transgression simply because I was the one wronged. I assure you that I also acted unjustly out of spite. I knew about the affair almost from the start and refused to end things with Renji just so I could make him miserable. I wanted to clear the air concerning this matter since we will all be working closely together from now on.”

“I see, I thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will see that the misconstrued information is removed from Abari-san’s record,” Byakuya said, “Come Renji you are still under curfew.”

Renji gaped at Ichigo,” why on earth would he stand up for me?” Renji thought to himself. As he turned to follow Byakuya out he offered Ichigo a small bow of gratitude. Yamamoto smiled at his grandson; he had heard the entire exchange and was very proud of Ichigo. 

“Alright Grimm, let’s go I’m starving.”

“Why did you do that?”

“I heard from Rukia and my dad that Renji had been disciplined and what the results of these punishments were, I cannot let someone suffer more than they deserve.”

“Oh, you gonna try to be friends with him again?”

“No, just not enemies. I don’t have time to train, maintain our relationship, and try to mend that broken one. The first two are all I want to deal with right now. But I don’t feel like dealing with six weeks of outright hostility from him either.”

“Good point.”

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

After Grimmjow and Ichigo ate they walked back to Grimmjow’s house, this time they didn’t stop on the porch. Entering the house Ichigo noticed that some of his friends were already there. Ulquiorra and Uryuu were sitting in the dining room leaning in close to each other as they talked and casually stole small caressed from each other. Nnoitra and Shinji were wrapped around each other on a recliner in the living room making out. Chad and Starrk were stretched out on the couch together sound asleep.

“It looks like your friend Chad is the perfect match for Starrk there, he’s the laziest bastard I know. Chad seems laid back enough to sleep alongside him for 20 hours a day.”

Ichigo laughed,” Yup, match made in heaven.”

“Come on, we’re going to my room. I don’t feel like watching the live action amateur porn hour over there. “

“Sure fine with me.”

As they walked toward Grimmjow’s room Aizen popped his head out of another door, “You two don’t stay up all night. Make sure to let Isshin know where you are Ichigo, I don’t want him to panic and break down my front door.”

“Yes sir, I’ll call him in a few minutes.”

“Ok, good night boys. You are more than welcome to stay the night.”

“Um, thank you?”

“Come on Ichi, call your pops and let him know where you are and that you’re staying with me tonight. He’s probably still out with his man anyhow.”

Ichigo pulled out his phone when they finally got to Grimmjow’s room, dialing his father’s number he held the phone out three feet from his ear, Grimmjow’s puzzled look quickly changed to complete understanding as soon as Isshin answered.

“ICHIGO! MY DARLING SON, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? WHAT CAN DADDY DO FOR YOU? TALK TO ME MY SON; I AM ALWAYS HERE FOR YOU!”

“Shut it you idiot! I’m at Grimmjow’s I’ll be home in the morning.”

“MAKE SURE YOU USE PROTECTION! AND LUBE, KISUKE AND I USE….” Whatever else he’d been about to say was cut off as Ichigo hung up the phone.

“I will never get used to your dad,” Grimmjow mused, “Please don’t ever turn into him.”

“Oh god, perish the thought.”


	12. Chapter 12

“Why don’t we get comfortable and hang out until we get tired?” said Grimmjow, “I have sweats or regular pajama pants, which would you prefer?”

“Pajama pants, it’s too warm for sweats.”

Grimmjow went to his dresser and tossed Ichigo a pair of baby blue silk pajama pants, “Sorry they might be a little big on you.” Grimmjow said as he began to undress and pull on a pair of green pants with what looked like small red polka dots on them. They had been up talking for a few hours and were getting ready to settle down and watch a movie in Grimmjow’s room. 

“What do you want to watch?” Grimmjow asked,” I have pretty much anything you can think of.”

“I don’t care; I can watch pretty much anything. Except for horror, I don’t really like horror movies.” Ichigo said looking at Grimmjow out of the corner of his eye. Grimmjow laughed and grabbed a movie and putting it in. He jumped onto his bed and started to get comfortable next to Ichigo when Ichigo burst out laughing. 

“What’s so funny, berry?” Grimmjow asked.

“Oh my god, I just got a good look at your pants!” Ichigo gasped out pointing at the green pants with small red strawberries embroidered all over them, “Why do you have those?”

“Nnoitra gave them to me yesterday, bastard thought it was hilarious. I only have these and the pajama pants your wearing and I didn’t think you’d be amused if I gave these to you.” Grimmjow said sheepishly. Ichigo just smiled at him and leaned over kissing his cheek.

“Let’s watch the movie. What did you pick?”

Grimmjow gave Ichigo an evil smile and grabbed the remote hitting play, “You’ll see.”

An hour later Ichigo was practically in Grimmjow’s lap with his face buried in the man’s chest. “You are such an ass!” Grimmjow had put on Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, a classic horror movie.

“Aw, come on Berry, I’ll keep you safe,” Grimmjow purred wrapping his arms tightly around Ichigo pulling him closer. Ichigo glared at the man and decided that he was gonna make the devious asshole suffer. Through the rest of the movie Ichigo made a point to touch the man in very “accidentally” sexual ways every time there was a part of the movie that made him jump. By the end of the movie Grimmjow was growling low in his chest, thinking to himself that maybe his plan to cause the smaller man to cuddle close had actually been a bad one. Yes, Ichigo had indeed been scared and moved in close for comfort, but while held been grabbing and burying himself into Grimmjow, he’d managed to rub against him in the most suggestive ways and brush against his now staining length. Ichigo had buried his face in Grimmjow’s neck quite a few times and each time Grimmjow’s body reacted to the feel of his lips brushing across his neck and his breath blowing across his ear. Now he was horny as hell with a raging hard-on and afraid to move because he didn’t want Ichigo to see and make him uncomfortable.

Ichigo stretched and turned to Grimmjow, “It’s late, let’s get some sleep.” Grimmjow didn’t notice the amusement shinning in his eyes or the lust simmering below the surface. Ichigo had turned himself on while trying to torture his boyfriend. “I wonder if it worked,” he thought to himself, “should I try to test the water?” Ichigo was pulled from his thoughts when Grimmjow began to shift around to lie on his side, Ichigo caught a glimpse of his soon to be lovers very obvious arousal. “Well that answers that, tonight is a good night to get laid.”

Ichigo lay down on his back, apparently not caring that he sported a noticeable tent in his pants, and said “What not even a kiss goodnight?” He heard Grimmjow snort and felt him roll over, pausing as he caught a glimpse of Ichigo’s problem. Ichigo didn’t give him a chance to comprehend the situation before he was flipped on to his back with the orange haired man pinning him to the bed.

“Your choice of movie has created a mutual problem, “he said as he ground his hips down causing his erection to slide across Grimmjow’s, pulling a moan from the older man’s throat, “I don’t know about you but I can’t sleep when I’m horny.”

Grimmjow’s mind finally caught up with the situation and he smiled, “what do you suggest we do about it then?”

Ichigo gave him a looked that said you are so fucked, and Grimmjow began to think that he was going to be, literally. Grimmjow’s head was spinning wondering what he had gotten himself into, even though Ichigo was smaller than him, he doubted that he could dominate him in bed. “Shit, well this is different. I’ve never bottomed for anyone in my life, why doesn’t the thought bother me more?” Grimmjow thought to himself. As if reading his mind Ichigo leaned in and husked in his ear, “Relax, I’ll only go as far as you want me to. There are many other ways that I can please you. If you don’t like something let me know. I am going to bring you more pleasure than you thought possible and by the end I’ll have you screaming my name.” Grimmjow could only moan as Ichigo’s mouth began to move down his neck, kissing and nipping leaving a burning trail in its wake. Grimmjow tilted his head to the side, exposing more of his neck to the other man’s assault. Ichigo’s hands played with the hem of his shirt before sliding underneath to run his hands across hard muscle that bunched and quivered as he trailed across them. The need to see and taste more of the man under him was growing; with a low growl Ichigo reclaimed Grimmjow’s lips as he placed both hands at the collar of his shirt. “You taste so good, Grimm.” Ichigo purred against his lips, “I plan on tasting every inch of you tonight. “ When Grimmjow let out a loud moan, Ichigo felt his cock twitch. The sounds coming from the larger man were intoxicating; he was slowly losing his self control. Ichigo let out a low rumble from deep in his chest as he ripped the blue haired man’s shirt in half, having grown to impatient to remove it properly.

“Damn, Ichi! I like that shirt.”

“You’ll like this better, so shut up.”

“ah, shit….” Grimmjow’s voice trailed off as Ichigo’s mouth began to move again. Grimmjow lost himself in the feeling of lips, tongue, and teeth moving across his newly exposed flesh. When Ichigo reached a hard pebbled dusky nipple he bit down harshly causing a broken gasp to escape the panting body he was ravishing. With a smile he ran his tongue over the now red nipple to sooth it before treating the other one to the same treatment. Ichigo’s mouth felt like lava to Grimmjow, the treatment he was receiving setting his body on fire. “I-Ich-I, oh god, fuck!” Ichigo grinned and continued his assault. Grimmjow’s mind was a haze of lust and he couldn’t focus on anything other than the sensations of Ichigo’s mouth and hands. A sharp bite to his inner thigh brought him out of his daze, “when did he take my pants off?” he briefly thought to himself before he was once again lost to the burning need Ichigo was causing, his tongue leaving wet trails over down his inner thighs moving slowly down one leg and up the other. Grimmjow reached down pulling at Ichigo’s shirt, desperate to feel the smaller man’s skin against him. Ichigo pulled away from writhing man and removed his shirt, smirking the entire time.

“Is this what you want? You want to see me? Feel me? Tell me Grimm, do you need me?”

“Oh, god, Ichi. I want to feel you against me; I need to feel you against me.”

“Oh really,” Ichigo teased as he slid his body up Grimmjow’s until his lips were millimeters from the others, “tell me how bad you need me, baby. Tell me what you need me to do. I want to hear you.”

“I want you, I need you. Naked. On me, against me. I need you to touch me, Ichi, I feel like I’m on fire.” Grimmjow panted against Ichigo’s lips. Ichigo groaned and devoured the man’s mouth in a demanding kiss, his tongue forcing its way in, stealing the breath from the big man’s lungs. Ichigo shifted himself moving down Grimmjow’s body again, making sure never to break the skin on skin contact. When he reached the painfully hard erection he let his breath ghost over it while admiring the sheer size, he was about the same girth but about 2 inches longer, and Ichigo was not a small man. Ichigo hummed to himself as he flicked his tongue out catching the copious amounts of pre-cum leaking from the twitching member, moans escaping both men. Ichigo looked up to see Grimmjow propped up on his elbows watching him through half-lidded eyes. Ichigo locked his gaze as he took the weeping head in his mouth, the stifled moan that barely escaped Grimmjow caused Ichigo to pull back and frown.

“I want to hear you, don’t hold back or I will.” Seeing a look of mild confusion cross Grimmjow’s face, Ichigo smirked and didn’t give him time to comprehend what he had said. In one swift fluid movement, Ichigo took Grimmjow’s entire member in his mouth, deep throating him without gagging, barely. The animalistic snarling groan that tore from Grimmjow’s throat went straight to Ichigo’s groin pulling his own growl from his chest. As the vibrations traveled along Grimmjow’s length he couldn’t help but buck his hips until Ichigo’s vice like grip pinned them to the bed. Grimmjow stuttered and moaned unable to form any coherent words or thoughts as he watched Ichigo’s head bob up and down sucking hard and swallowing around him. He didn’t think he was gonna be able to last much longer, Ichigo was too damn good at sucking dick. As the familiar coil tightened in his gut his cock gave a warning pulse and Ichigo pulled away suddenly, “not yet, I’m not done with you yet. I want to hear you beg for me to let you cum.”

Grimmjow opened his mouth to protest but was cut off when he was suddenly flipped over and his face shoved into the pillow. Ichigo grabbed the torn shirt and pulled it violently down his arms, but instead of removing it, with a few quick movements he had tied Grimmjow’s wrists together behind his back. Ichigo grabbed him and pulled his hips up so his knees were under him, his naked ass in the air displayed for Ichigo to admire.

“What the hell?”

“Hmm, you look so sexy like this, completely at my mercy. Do you know the things I want to do to you? I bet that you have never let anyone fuck this beautiful ass of yours, have you? It makes me so hard thinking that I’m gonna be the first to have my dick buried balls deep in you. But that can wait for another time, I’ll let you get used to the idea, right now…..” Ichigo watched as Grimmjow’s neck and ears turned red. “Your blushing, god that’s sexy.” Ichigo ran his tongue up the back of Grimmjow’s neck causing him to shudder and moan. Ichigo took his time kissing and nibbling every inch of flesh he could reach. Grimmjow’s body was trembling with need, his breathing was harsh and erratic, and he couldn’t take anymore.

“Ichi, please…” he moaned out.

“Please what? What do you want me to do to you?”

“Please, I need to cum, I can’t take it anymore.”

“As you wish, I aim to please.”

Ichigo moved behind Grimmjow again placing a hand on each side of his ass, spreading his cheeks to admire the virgin hole in front of him. Ichigo leaned in and slowly ran his tongue from the top all the way down stopping to swirl the tip of the wet appendage around the entrance before continuing down until he reached the man’s scrotum. Ichigo teased each ball before sucking on them one at time. 

Releasing the soft skin he returned to the hole that he so desperately wanted to be buried in. He placed small kisses around the entrance before swirling his tongue around the opening again.

“Oh, god, what are you doing? Ichi, please-“ Grimmjow panted, not sure if he liked the feeling of what Ichigo was doing, until he felt Ichigo’s tongue invade him. He let out a loud whine as he felt that wicked tongue slowly move in and out of him. “Nnggh….I-Iii-chi-gooooo! More, please, oh god……” Grimmjow’s voice trailed off into a string of unintelligible gibberish. Ichigo steadied the other man with a firm grip on his hips as he moved his tongue in deeper and faster with each thrust, when he felt Grimmjow’s inner muscles start to clench and spasm he reached under the man and began to stroke his throbbing cock. Grimmjow couldn’t take the stimulation overload, “Ich-I-I’m gon-na….” Grimmjow stuttered. Ichigo thrust his tongue in as deep as he could, brushing against the prostate, Grimmjow almost screamed at the overwhelming pleasure that flooded his body. Ichigo continued to move his hand up and down the pulsing cock as his tongue hit the sensitive bundle of nerves with every thrust. Once, twice, on the third thrust Grimmjow came harder than he had ever come before, Ichigo’s name torn from his lips as he screamed out his release. 

Grimmjow’s body sagged onto the bed; he turned his head to the side to look at Ichigo. What he saw almost made him hard again; Ichigo was slowly licking his cum from his fingers, looking like it was the sweetest thing in the world. 

“O, god, that’s hot.” Grimmjow moaned out, unable to stop watching. Ichigo looked at him and stared right into his eyes, and slowly sucked a cum covered finger into his mouth letting his eyes drift closed in satisfaction. “Untie me, let me touch you. I need to feel you cum for me.”

Ichigo opened his eyes, and smirked. He moved so he was sitting with his back to the wall, facing Grimmjow’s head. “I don’t think so,” he said, raising himself up to his knees and sliding his pants and boxers down. “I think I want to see your face as you watch, knowing you can’t do anything.” Ichigo said as he settled back and slowly began to stroke himself. Grimmjow growled and pulled at his bindings, he needed to touch the red head, needed to taste him, after a few minutes of fighting against his restraints he managed to pull his hands free. Giving Ichigo a feral smile he grabbed him by his hips and pulled him over. 

“Your mine now,” growled Grimmjow and began to lick and taste the smaller man, a desperate parody of what had been done to him. He didn’t have the patience to take his time, he wanted to swallow him whole and feel him come undone, now! Grimmjow descended on Ichigo’s cock until his nose rested against the soft orange curls at its base. Moaning deep in his chest he swallowed around it twice before beginning to move up and down it in a smooth steady pace. Ichigo brought his hands to the back of the head in his lap burying his fingers in the soft blue hair.

“Mmmmm, Grimm, so good. I can’t….” Grimmjow’s only answer was to hum around the member in his mouth causing Ichigo to almost cum on the spot. “Oh, god, Grimm-I’m gonna, I can’t…………Grimmjow!!”

Ichigo came hard down Grimmjow’s throat, calling the blue haired man’s name. Grimmjow milked Ichigo’s cock until it was dry, slowly letting it slide from his mouth. He smiled as he moved up to capture Ichigo’s lips in a deep sensual kiss. He maneuvered their bodies so they were lying side by side on the pillows, never breaking the kiss. When they finally parted, Grimmjow sighed and pulled the smaller man closer to him. Ichigo snuggled into his chest and let sleep claim him, Grimmjow not far behind.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: to reiterate, I do not own Bleach or any of the music that will appear in this story.

 

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Bzzz bzzzz bzzz….. Ichigo reached over in a sleep filled daze and hit the alarm clock to shut it up. Groaning he rolled over and opened his eyes only to see bright blue eyes smiling back at him.

“Not a morning person?” Grimmjow asked chuckling. Ichigo just scowled at him and tried to roll away from the annoyingly cheery man.

“It's too early to be happy; I need a shower and coffee.” Ichigo grumbled, then it hit him, he was in Grimmjow’s room. He sat up suddenly and looked at the alarm clock.

“Yup, you murdered my alarm clock. Violent aren’t we?” Grimmjow was now laughing at the embarrassed expression Ichigo had.

“I’m sorry, not much of a morning person. I’ll give you a new alarm clock. I buy them in bulk, I have to replace mine every other day or so.”

“Wow, you really aren’t a morning person. Come on, get up. Let’s go shower and I’ll get you some coffee. Training starts today and it won’t be good if we’re late.”

Ichigo grumbled something unintelligible, but Grimmjow thought he heard something about perverted shop keepers and stupid hats.

 

XOXOXOXOX

Twenty minutes later the boys were showered and sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee when the rest of the family walked in. Ichigo who was still not awake didn’t notice the looks being sent their way. Nnoitra smirked and walked over to Grimmjow and leaned in close so no one would hear him, “Hey Big Blue, I heard the most amusing things from your room last night. I have to know what the Berry was doing that made you scream.”  
Grimmjow scowled and pushed the tall man away, “None of your business, Stick, fuck off.” Nnoitra just laughed at Grimmjow’s obvious discomfort, causing Ichigo to growl lowly. He didn’t like the looks between the two brothers and had easily figured out topic of conversation. As Grimmjow looked up to find out what he was growling about Ichigo’s phone went off.

I hear voices in my head  
They council me  
They understand  
They talk to me, they talk to me  
They tell me things that I would do  
They show me things I’ll do to you  
They talk to me

Ichigo pulled out his phone checking the id; with a groan he flipped it open. “What Getabouchi, I’m not even close to being late so why are you calling me...WHAT? No I’m not doing that...Ok, yeah……..Sure……..Oi, keep that to yourself! You damn pervert……That’s it, I’m talking to Yoruichi about you, I’ll have her straighten you out!.......I already regret signing with you…….yeah, yeah 20 minutes got it…….Yeah I’ll tell Aizen-san……..SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!” Everyone was staring at Ichigo as he slammed his phone shut; his body had started shaking with barley suppressed anger. He opened his phone again and searched for the number he wanted, hitting send he looked up and noticed everyone watching him. He gave a smirk and returned his attention to the woman who just answered on the other end of the line.

“Hey Yor, when you get a chance I need you to sort out Kisuke for me…….you know I can’t now that him and Goat-face……he won’t even spar anymore…….Thank you, yeah I know I owe you…..yeah I’ll take care of her for a few days…..see ya.” Ichigo hung up the phone with a smile, looking up he stood from his chair, “Well I gotta get going. Urahara needs me there early. Oh Aizen-san, he asked me to let you know that when you arrive Tessai will be there to get you situated with everything you need.” Aizen nodded his head in acknowledgement and returned to his coffee, obviously not a morning person either. Ichigo turned to Grimmjow and leaned in giving him a kiss before turning to leave, “I’ll call you later when I get a chance.” With that Ichigo walked out the door and began the hectic life that is the National MMA Tournament.

XOXOXOXOX

 

Ichigo spent the next hour helping Kisuke set up the dojo to begin training; he was sitting in the middle of the mats stretching when the others began to arrive. Ichigo greeted his teammates and told them that Kisuke wanted them all to warm up before he got back. After a round of stretching and warm up routines the blond man returned and took his place at the front of the group.

“So today we are going to assess your current abilities, and determine what each of you needs to work on over the next two weeks before national s start. We will be sharing the dojo today with the Espada, so we will be using the North side and they will be on the South side. Ah, here they are now. Aizen-san I take it Tessai got you settled in ok?”

“Yes thank you, where will we be working today?”

“South side.”

“Ok, thank you. Espada, gather on the south side of the dojo, we will begin the assessment shortly.”

“It looks like we have the same plan Aizen, perhaps it would be beneficial to combine today, let them spar with a partner they have never faced before. We would be able to get a better grasp on their abilities without having to worry about the fact that they are sparing against someone that they know and therefore already knows their moves.”

“I will agree with that, how do we choose who faces who? We have 10 fighters, you have only 9.”

“I will use one of our reserve fighters; they will be here in about 10 minutes anyhow. Chad will be a challenge for almost any opponent. His defensive abilities are amazing and if he should choose, his offensive attacks are rather destructive.”

“Very well, I suggest we match them according to strength, it will allow a better assessment.”

“Agreed.”

XOXOXOXO

Ichigo was panting; his body was starting to ache from the beating it was receiving. “How did I get matched with Starrk? And where did this strength come from? He’s a lazy bastard I should be able to beat him easily!” Ichigo dodged another strike aimed at his head bringing his knee up to land in Starrk’s lower back. “Shit, he’s fast. I beat that psycho Kenpachi, I can beat this guy!”

"King, you’re weak." 

Ichigo stopped suddenly allowing Starrk to land a solid hit to the left side of his face. Ichigo went flying and didn’t get up immediately. “Who said that?” Ichigo thought to himself.

"I did, King. I believe your friends call me Shiro."

“How can this be? You don’t exist; Shiro is just a joke, a nickname given to my temper.”

"No, I am not your temper; I am your rage, your need to survive. I am your strength when you are too weak to stand up for yourself. Up until now I only showed up when you were mad, I couldn’t talk to you, you weren’t ready to hear me. Now you have given me the opening to help you, by signing that contract you finally admitted to yourself that you love to fight, you need to fight. The violence of it is a drug you need. Now I am able to make you stronger. Will you accept my help?"

“Yes. What do I need to do?”

"Call to me when you need me, I will always be here. I will offer you what advise I can, and lend you my power when you need it. Now get up and fight. I will not let my King fall to this man. Now GET UP AND FIGHT!!!!!"

Ichigo opened his eyes and groaned as he got to his feet, he’d only been down a few seconds but it felt like hours, Starrk looked at him with mild concern. “Ichigo, are you ok to continue this match?”

“Yeah, Starrk, sorry got distracted for a second. Let’s finish this.” Ichigo took up his stance again and watched Starrk as he began to move again.

Grimmjow watched the match and began to worry. This wasn’t the same Ichigo he sparred with, he sparred with Shiro. Shifting over to talk to Kisuke Grimmjow asked, “Is Ichigo gonna be ok? Starrk is wailing on him pretty good and he doesn’t look like he’s gonna be able to hold out much longer.”

“Ah, Grimm-kitty, are you worried about your lover?” Urahara twittered causing Grimmjow to growl menacingly at the blond man.” Don’t worry, Ichigo is a special case. He normally takes damage at the beginning until he finds his resolve about half way through. I have a feeling that we have only seen the surface of his true strength. If he learns to harness Shiro, he will be damn near unbeatable. I’m sure Ichigo has told you about Shiro by now, that is Ichigo’s rage and raw power. Oh my, I think Ichi may have found a way to tap into it, your brother looks to be in trouble.”

Grimmjow turned back to the fight in front of him and watched in awe as Ichigo turned the tables on Starrk. Starrk was one of the fastest people Grimmjow had ever met, his movements almost too fast to be seen. Starrk looked slow compared to Ichigo right now, Ichigo countered the blows sent his way almost like they were love taps. Everyone watched as Ichigo began to grin, the look was that of a maniacal madman (think Joker from Batman), and it sent chills threw the group. They watched as Ichigo launched at his opponent and landed a blow to Starrk’s upper chest causing the bigger man to stagger back, Ichigo’s cold mad laugh caused Kisuke to jump up and call the fight, claiming that they had assessed enough. Kisuke pulled Ichigo aside as Baraggan and Shinji began their spar, Tessai taking Kisuke’s spot assessing the fighters.

XOXOXOXO

“What the hell, Kisuke! Why did you stop my fight?”

“I had what I needed from it, no need to continue it and risk injuries.”

“I wouldn’t have been injured.”

“I do not doubt that, Shiro. Care to enlighten me on the new development of your relationship wit Ichigo?”

"Tell him King, tell him you’re finally becoming whole again."

“Kisuke, I’m not Shiro. But apparently Shiro really does exist in a way we didn’t think about. He spoke to me, and told me that I can call on his power anytime I need to. Kisuke am I going crazy? It’s not normal to hear voices.”

“Do you remember when you first started here training with me? I hypnotized you and learned a few things that your father and I decided to keep from you until you were older. Stay after and we’ll talk, I’ll have your dad meet up here.”

XOXOXOXOX 

“I’ll call you later, Grimm. I need to stay here for a while, as soon as I finish up with this I’ll let you know.”

Grimmjow walked out of the dojo leaving Ichigo and his father and kyoukan. He was a little worried about what was going on but he did as Ichigo asked and went home.

As soon as the dojo was empty Ichigo turned to the two adults and said simply, “Spill it.”


	14. Chapter 14

The three men sat around a low table sipping tea, the air was thick with tension and the youngest of the three was twitching in anger.  He wanted answers, NOW, and the others were stalling for some reason.  With a deep sigh, Isshin turned to his son and began the story.

_8 years ago_

_“Kisuke, I don’t know what to do about Ichigo, he’s become so violent and uncontrollable.  He got kicked out of the dojo, they said he has no discipline and has caused too many injuries to other children.”  Isshin said, looking at his old friend with an air of desperation._

_“Bring him to me Isshin; I might be able to help you.”_

_The next morning Isshin arrived at the Urahara Shoten dragging an enraged golden eyed child behind him.  Kisuke took one look at the boy and offered to fight him if he wanted, the boy jumped at the offer.  A short time later the boy lay on the ground exhausted and calm, his eyes were once again honey brown.  The two older men looked at him and spoke it hushed tones._

_“I want to hypnotize him, Isshin; I think that he has a serious personality disorder.”_

_“Ok, just help him please.  I want my son back, I can’t lose him too.”_

_XOXOXOX_

_“FUCK OFF!  I will kill you in your sleep!  Release me and fight you damn coward!”_

_Kisuke watched as the small boy he had known from birth became a violent foul mouthed parody of himself.  “Can you tell me what you are?  You are not Ichigo but you are not not Ichigo.”_

_“I am here to protect my King, I will kill anyone who causes my King pain.”_

_“Do you know that you are causing him more harm than good right now?  He is too violent, and that will cause him trouble in life.  Will you back off?  Protect him but let him live his own life free of you?”_

_“I will let him live his life as he chooses, but I will always be here to protect him.  Anyone who causes it to rain will be mine to deal with.  One day the King will need me and I will make myself known to him, I am the embodiment of his rage and strength.  I was born the night his mother died, his rage and fear fought for dominance and I won.  My Kings soul is now home to three, I am the lesser of the two evils that live in here.  If Kings life is ever in danger, the destruction that will be unleashed will be beautiful.”_

XOXOXOX

Ichigo was quiet, trying to wrap his head around what he had just heard.  He had a split personality?  Is that what he was to understand?  No that can’t be it, could it?  He looked up at Kisuke and cocked his head to the side, a hard glint in his eyes.  “Why didn’t anyone tell me about this?  Why is Shiro coming out now?  Am I even safe to be around?”

_King, I am here now to help you, as I said all those years ago, you need me now.  The more you fight the stronger the need to fight is gonna be if you can’t learn to control your rage.  You needed to know me now so you can learn to fight with me not apart from me.  You want to live a normal life; well this is how you do it._

“Ichigo, we couldn’t tell you when you weren’t ready to hear it.  I don’t know what Shiro is telling you but I truly believe he means you no harm.  As for this third party that he says lives in you we are not sure, he never made himself known.”

“Shiro says that my choice to fight for a living is why he has surfaced, that I need to learn to control my rage or it will control me.”  Ichigo said lost in thought, “he keeps calling me King though.”

_You are my King; I am but your humble horse.  Do not ever take me for granted though, or you may find those roles reversed._ Shiro said with an air of menace and began to cackle madly in Ichigo’s head.

“Oh god, he’s insane!”  Ichigo moaned.  Kisuke and Isshin looked at each other worry showing on both of their faces.

“It will be ok Ichigo; you are strong enough to control him.  We have faith in you.  Now it’s getting late, why don’t we call it a night and get some sleep, tomorrow is an early start.” Kisuke said.

“Sir, the girls are already asleep in Ururu’s room, should I wake them?”  Tessai said entering the room.

“No, let them sleep.  Kisuke do you mind if we all just sleep here?  It’s already midnight.”

Kisuke smiled and wrapped his arms around Isshin, “Of course love, you never have to ask, I have already told you my home is your home anytime you want.”  He placed a kiss on Isshin’s temple and looked at Ichigo, “Ichi, why don’t you head on up to your room.  Call Grimmjow but get to sleep soon.”

Ichigo nodded and dragged himself to his room in the back of the shop, his mind was whirling with too many thoughts to sort through, and his body was on the verge of collapse.  He needed to hear Grimmjow’s voice, his mind suddenly grasped onto that one thought and refused to let go.  As he fell into his bed he pulled out his phone and typed a quick message.

You still up?-Ichigo

Yes, thought u 4got about meL-Grimmjow

  1.   Is it safe to call? - Ichigo



Instead of a reply Ichigo’s phone started to ring.  He smiled as he answered the phone.  “Hey Grimm, sorry it’s so late.”

“That’s fine Berry, you ok?  You sound like shit.”

“I feel like it too.  I just spent hours with my dad and Kisuke learning that I am more fucked up than I thought.  I swear I’m gonna go find a cave on a deserted island and lock myself in.”

“That bad huh?  Wanna tell me about it?  I’m always gonna be here to listen if you need me too.”

“Thanks, but not tonight.  Tonight I just want to sleep, but I needed to hear your voice.”

“Awe, your making me blush, Berry, tell you what, tomorrow we’ll get together and talk.  I think I have some free time in the evening.”

“Shit, I don’t.  I have training in the morning, the tutor in the afternoon, and lessons with Kisuke in the evening.  I’ll send you a text if I get any free time.  This sucks, we won’t get to spend any real time together for weeks.”

“I know, but we’ll make it work.  Get some sleep; I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

XOXOXOXOX

Ichigo didn’t know where he was; he looked around and threw himself to the ground.  Well ground being the relative term, he pressed his back to the window below him as a familiar cackle reached his ears.  Ichigo looked up into the strangest pair of eyes he had ever seen, they were golden yellow surrounded by cornea’s that were jet black instead of white.  The face was a negative image of Ichigo’s own, all white compared to Ichigo’s tan skin, even the others hair was white.

_King why you lying on the ground?  Stand up, you look foolish down there._

“What do you mean?  You’re standing on the side of the building!”  Ichigo yelled, “Where is this place anyways?”

_This is your soul, your inner world; its appearance is a direct reflection of you._

_“_ Great so my soul is a twisted version of Tokyo?  Why are all the buildings sideways?”

_You have a twisted mind, King.  Keeps things interesting, as you grow things here change.  The city turned on its side, there’s a strange park that showed up one day a few buildings over-everything is purple and upside down, sometimes things change color for no reason, this place is affected by your emotions.  When you are sad it rains, when you are mad storms rage causing massive destruction, when you’re happy the sun shines, the other night we had an earthquake.  That was new, never had anything close to that with the red headed guy.  I like the blue kitty by the way, he keeps things interesting and dry inhere._

“Oh god, you were there?”

_Always King.  I try to ignore those moments though._

“Hey, who is the third person in my soul?  Kisuke said he wouldn’t show himself.”

_Ah, yes, him.  He is not very social; he will not be a problem for you.  He is the embodiment of your will to live and contains your pure desire to destroy.  He may one day decide to introduce himself or he may not.  He will only make is presence known if you are in mortal danger and cannot survive on your own._

“Why am I divided this way?”

_It happened when you watched your mother be murdered.  You may not remember what happened that night but we do.  He saved you; I wiped out your memories.  You created us as a defense against all the hate and rage you felt.  We are your protection from yourself, but you are learning to control us, which means you are learning to cope with your inner demons.  One day you may not need us any longer and we will fade away._

Ichigo woke with a start as the alarm on his phone went off.  He rolled out of bed and got ready for a very long day.


	15. Chapter 15

 

Ichigo was exhausted, he felt like he had no sleep at all and the training schedule that Kisuke set was grueling.  It was lunch time and Ichigo decided to send Grimmjow a text to see how his day was going.

Hey babe, busy? - Ichigo

Nah, lunch. U? - Grimmjow

Same, how’s training? - Ichigo

Long, tiring, rather be with you- Grimmjow

I feel the same way.  Kisuke is cutting my lesson short tonight; I’ll be done around 7.  Dinner? - Ichigo

YES!!- Grimmjow

k. See you then. - Ichigo

Smiling he put away his phone and gathered his things to meet the tutor at his house.  He wondered who else had been slotted with him.  When he walked into his house he saw Chad, Lisa, and Renji waiting at his dining room table.  With an inner groan he joined them to wait for the tutor to arrive.

“How is everything going Ichigo?” asked Chad.

“Not too bad, just tired right now.  I haven’t slept much the past week.”

Renji looked at him and gave a disgusted snort, “I wonder why?  You been up playing with your new toy?”

“Yup, sure have.  Not that it’s any of your business what I do with my boyfriend, not toy, that was you.”

Renji‘s face was turning red in anger, he couldn’t believe that Ichigo was acting this way, he was supposed to be his.  He opened his mouth to say something when he suddenly found his face pressed against the table in front of him.  Everyone looked up at the man standing behind him, cold eyes focused on the back of Renji’s head, waves of barely contained anger rolling off of him.

“Byakuya, you’re the tutor?”  Asked Ichigo, “Oh and you can let him go.  There is no problem here, you know how we are, and we fight just to fight.”  Byakuya looked at Ichigo for a second and released Renji’s head.

“I am your tutor for the day; pull out the assignments that you should have been working on for yesterday and today.  I will look them over and then continue your lessons.”  Ichigo handed over his folder containing all of the assignments for the next six weeks, all of them already completed.  Byakuya looked at him with amusement, Ichigo may not have looked it but he was an excellent student and very smart.  After all three students had their assignments reviewed Byakuya began the lesson.  Ichigo tried to pay attention but began to drift off, his exhaustion finally catching up to him.

“Ichigo, if you are going to sleep please go lay down in the living room,” Byakuya’s stern voice woke Ichigo, “you obviously know the material and have completed the work, you do not need to sit through the lesson.  And I cannot have you disturbing the lesson for the others.”

Ichigo stood yawning and gave a small nod before going to curl up on the couch; a nice nap was just what he needed.  He was asleep as soon as he laid his head down, and immediately found himself back in his inner world.

“Shiro, why am I here?  I need to rest.”

_I’m not the one who called you here, HE wants to see you._

_ I do have a name.   _

Ichigo jumped at the new voice, he looked around and saw a man standing a short distance away.  He was tall and older, or was he younger?  The man’s appearance shifted constantly, he looked to be a middle-aged man with long wavy brown hair and a shadow of a scruffy beard, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses.  Now he looked like a teen, the beard was gone and his body seemed leaner, his hair longer.  “Oh god, my mind is so fucked up!  It can’t even decide what my figments are supposed to look like.”  Ichigo thought to himself.

_ Your mind is not fucked up; I have no solid appearance because I have never been needed.  After today I suspect that I will stop shifting.  My name is Zangetsu I am both your will to survive and your resolve to destroy.  As such I am also your logic and reason when needed, where as Shiro is your pure instinct and unbridled passion.  If ever you need me you need only to call my name.  That is all, you may return to your rest. _

Ichigo watched the sideways world dissolve and sank into a deep restful sleep.  He was woken up by Renji and Lisa arguing. 

“Renji, don’t be an idiot!  Chad go wake him up, I’ll keep the moron away.  I can’t believe that even after what happened earlier you still want to argue with him about his new relationship.  He’s happy, you need to move on.  He’s trying to be something close to a friend to you and you are gonna end up ruining everything you have.  Grow up and move on, pineapple.”

“I’m awake, you two are loud.  I take it Byakuya is already gone.  Renji, I don’t have any desire to be anything to you, not anymore.  I am covering for you because of the friendship we once had, don’t push my limits though.”  Ichigo said as he stood up.  He looked at the clock and sighed, time to run to Kisuke’s. “See ya’ll I got to get to Kisuke’s.”

He arrived just in time for his lesson with his kyoukan, today was all about managing the fighters schedules.  BORING!!!  Two hours later he was walking down the street on his way to meet Grimmjow for dinner.  A smile on his face, he didn’t notice the shadows moving behind him. 

Ichigo reached Grimmjow’s house a few minutes later and saw the blue haired man sitting on the porch waiting for him.  He walked up to the man wrapping his arms around him and gave him a long hard kiss.

“Mmm, I’ve missed you,” Ichigo sighed.

“Me too, I’ve been needing this for the past two days.”

“Let’s go get food, I’m starving.  Go out or eat in?”

“Let’s order in and relax.  Tomorrow is going to be just as bad as today.”

“Sounds good, “Ichigo said pulling out his phone and ordering pizza.  They sat on the porch and just enjoyed the calm and each others presence until the pizza came.  They took it inside and went to Grimmjow’s room to eat.

XOXOXOXOXOX

The pizza was gone and the two boys sat wrapped around each other on the bed, talking about how their day had been.

Grimmjow shifted and looked at Ichigo, “So are you gonna tell me what happened yesterday?  You got weird during your match with Starrk and then that phone call last night has me a little worried.”

Ichigo sighed and told him everything had learned from his dad and Kisuke.  He was going to leave out the part about Shiro, Zangetsu, and the twisted inner world, but Grimmjow seemed to know he was holding back.

“What else, there is something you aren’t telling me.  If you’re afraid that I’ll think you’re crazy or something, don’t be.  I think I have a better grasp of the situation than you believe.  Tell me what it is that you’re afraid to tell me.”  He said as he rubbed soothing circles into Ichigo’s back.

“You asked for it, don’t blame me when you relies I’m off my rocker.” Ichigo sighed, but for some reason he couldn’t place he trusted that Grimmjow would still be there after he unleashed the crazy.  “I told you about Shiro, well he is an actual personality apparently.  He started speaking to me in the middle of my match with Starrk, he’s kinda insane.  Last night when I went to sleep he pulled me into this strange place, it looked like someone tipped Tokyo on its side, and he told me that it is my inner world, my soul.  He looks like me but he’s all white with golden and black eyes.  Then today I’m taking a nap and get sucked in again by the third resident of my soul, a strange man named Zangetsu, who couldn’t decide if he was a teenager or a middle-aged man.  He is my logic, will to survive, and resolve to destroy.  Shiro is my instinct and passion.  According to them I am learning to control my inner demons and eventually they will fade away.  So am I nuts?”

“Yup.  And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”


	16. Chapter 16

Ichigo and Grimmjow didn’t get more than 5 minutes at a time to talk to each other for the next two weeks.  By the time the first day of competition started they were both crawling out of their skin in anticipation, for the competition and because they were finally going to be able to see each other.  Yamamoto had reserved all the hotel rooms and assigned roommates, god Ichigo loved his grandfather!  Grimmjow and Ichigo were sharing a room.

Grimmjow had a match the first day so Ichigo made sure he was there to watch it.  Renji was there as well with Rukia and Lisa.

“Hey Ichigo,” Renji said, “Can we sit with you?  I promise to behave.”  Ichigo nodded to the three and they took the seats on either side of him.  Renji was sitting next to Ichigo and looked uncomfortable; he kept staring at a small black haired man sitting a few seats away.  “Um Ichigo, I have something I need to ask you, but I think it might be better if I talk to you and Grimmjow together.  I promise that I am not trying to start anything, this is a serious thing.  I’ll even bring Rukia or Byakuya if you want.”

Ichigo looked at Renji and saw a determined glint in his eye, but no trace of the anger or jealousy that had been there before, “Yeah, ok.  Tonight after dinner come by our room.  Room 615.  The match is starting.”  Ichigo’s eyes lit up as he watched Grimmjow take the floor.  Renji’s attention was on the smaller man however, he pulled out his camera and under the guise of taking pictures of the match and crowd he snapped a photo of the man’s face.  He needed to tell the two men that they were being followed by this strangely feminine man.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow groaned when there was a knock on the door, he wasn’t expecting company.  He moved to open the door and was surprised to see Renji standing in the doorway with Byakuya, Aizen, Kisuke, and Rukia standing behind him.  “What do you all want?”

“Grimm, is that Renji?  I told him to stop by.  Let him in so he can say what he needs to say.”  Ichigo called walking out of the bathroom in a towel.  He stopped when he noticed the crowd that had entered their hotel room.  “Renji, you really didn’t need to bring chaperones.  I trust that you just wanted to talk to us.”

“When I talked to Rukia about my reasons for coming here she made me tell Kuchiki-san, who made me inform Aizen-san and Urahara-san. “  Said Renji looking sheepish.

“Can we sit and get on with this please?  It is late and we could all use some rest,” Byakuya said.

“Yeah, sit down,” Ichigo said directing them to the table by the patio door.  “Give me a second to change.”  Ichigo walked to his suitcase and grabbed some cloths before walking back into the bathroom.  He rejoined the group after a moment and looked at Renji expectantly.

“Ok, first I have to say, that yes, I am an asshole and I was following you.  I am not anymore but that is an issue for another time.  Second and the reason I wanted to talk to you, I noticed someone else following you, I didn’t think much of it at first, but today during Grimmjow’s match I saw the guy again.  He was sitting a few seats down from us Ichigo; I managed to snap a picture of him.  Here, I don’t know if you know him or not, but I am a little concerned.”  Renji handed Ichigo the picture he had printed out earlier.

“I’ve never seen him,” said Ichigo, “have you Grimm?”  He handed the picture to Grimmjow.  Grimmjow looked at the picture and growled, he tossed it to Aizen.

“You know who it is.  I told you not to hire him, but no you wouldn’t listen to me.  I dated the guy and warned you he was a nut case!”  Said Grimmjow, turning back to Renji, “when did you notice him first?”

“Right about the time you two started seeing each other, I wasn’t in the right state of mind and kinda stalked Ichi.  He is too.  Always Ichi, never you unless your with him.”

“Who is this man that is stalking my fighter?” asked Kisuke for once dead serious.

“His name is Luppi,”  Grimmjow began, “I used to date a few years ago, about a year ago I got into some trouble and as punishment Aizen demoted me, and hired Luppi to take my place.  I tried to warn him but he thought I was being over dramatic about the situation.  Luppi is one hundred percent grade A super stalker material.  He is obsessed with me and had spent the past two years trying to get me back.  He’s gone so far as to attack my friends and anyone I have tried to date.”

“I had thought that the situation had been resolved before we left Osaka,” said Aizen softly, “I see that I will have to address this personally.”

“Aizen-san, if you will, I think that I would like a chance to handle this, seeing as he is apparently targeting me,” Ichigo said.  All eyes turned to him regarding the young man.

“Kurosaki, I am afraid that is not advisable.  He has a rather nasty streak and likes to fight dirty,” Aizen said, Grimmjow nodding his agreement.  However only Byakuya and Kisuke who were looking closely at Ichigo, noticed the subtle shift in his eye color, a flash of silver.

_ Ichigo, this man seems dangerous, are you sure you want to confront him? _

_King, ignore the stick in the mud, he’s ours._

“Zangetsu, I am sure.  I will protect that which is mine.”

“Ichigo, are you ok?”  Kisuke asked a hint of concern in his voice, “you do not seem to be yourself.”

“I’m fine Kisuke; I am more myself now than I have ever been,” he said to his teacher, “Aizen, I can take care of myself.  I will not actively seek out this man but if I came across him before you he will be dealt with by me.  I am not a coward; I do not hide behind others.”  Again the flash of silver, almost like a shadow flitting through.  Kisuke sighed, he knew what that look meant, even if he had never seen the silver shadow before.

“Ichigo, I will only caution you, be careful do not underestimate your opponent.  I can see that your resolve is set and you will not be deterred from this course.”

Grimmjow’s head snapped up at the word resolve, only Ichigo heard him say “Zangetsu.”  Ichigo looked at him and smiled, the silver shadow flashed again.  Grimmjow grit his teeth and bowed his head.  “I’ll tell you everything I can about Luppi.  I do not want you to confront him, but I realize I cannot stop you.  The least I can do is prepare you the best I can.”

The group broke up on that note, Rukia stayed behind to speak to her friend; she had something to tell him to lighten the mood.  When the other men had left, both Ichigo and Grimmjow thanking Renji for his concern and information, Ichigo turned to Rukia and looked at her expectantly.

“So just a little tid-bit to brighten your day, Renji has moved on.  I don’t think you have anything to worry about from him anymore.”  Rukia beamed.

“What do you mean?  He has been oddly quiet around me lately.” Mussed Ichigo.

“He has a new boyfriend,” exclaimed Rukia, “he and Ni-sama have been dating now for a little under a week!”

Ichigo choked and Grimmjow looked at her like she had grown a second head.  “Byakuya and Renji!?  Well that is some shit!”  choked out Ichigo.

“Yup, that’s why nii-sama was being so hard on him!  Bya-kun has been in love with Renji for years apparently.  He never said anything because Renji was underage.  Now though it’s a whole different story, and he finally made his move.  They are so lovey dovey at home it’s sick.”

With that Rukia left the two men alone to deal with the situation at hand.  As they settled into bed Grimmjow began his story.

 


	17. Chapter 17

_Three years ago_

_Grimmjow watched as a small effeminate man walked up to him in the hallway.  He was attractive, a little more feminine than Grimmjow normally went for, but still easy on the eyes.  He stopped a foot away from the blue haired teen, letting his eyes rake over the impressive figure.  Grimmjow noticed that there was a little more than a foot difference in height between the two and the smaller man had a slight build that made him worry about breaking the small man._

_“I would like to spend all night conquering that mountain of a body,” purred the small man causing Grimmjow to almost choke, “I’m Luppi and I’m all yours.”_

_“I’m Grimmjow and I’m not interested.”  Grimmjow turned around and began to walk away.  He didn’t want to appear interested, even though he was.  He liked to feel out people by making them work for his attention._

_Luppi was not deterred in the slightest, he walked up beside Grimmjow wrapping his arm through the taller mans, “I don’t care.  I’ve already claimed you; I’ll be the only one you need.”_

_Grimmjow was intrigued enough that he started to date the forceful teen.  He should have run in the opposite direction.  Luppi and Grimmjow dated for almost a year, mainly because Grimmjow was hardly ever around, training and competition kept him away a lot.  Luppi was very possessive and insanely jealous; he began to follow Grimmjow from city to city picking fights with anyone who spoke to Grimmjow._

_Finally Grimmjow had had enough when Luppi tried to attack Grimmjow’s sister, Nel.  Nel had come home for a visit and Luppi had seem them hugging, Nel was a well endowed woman and had Grimmjow’s face smashed in her chest.  Luppi had flown into a jealous rage and attacked the gentle woman.  Luppi had managed to land a hit to the woman’s jaw before she nearly took him apart; Nel was at the time the third Espada.  Grimmjow broke it off with Luppi that night in the hospital, where the man was recovering._

_Luppi became obsessed and began stalking Grimmjow, he attacked other members of the family and even some of Grimmjow’s friends.  Aizen had finally had enough of it and had him committed to a psychiatric institution.  They moved to Karakura Town a month later._

“He managed to put a few people in the hospital and was hospitalized each time he went after my siblings.  I wasn’t aware he had gotten out.  He fights dirty, Aizen hired him not long after we broke up and had to fire him about a month later for cheating and dirty tactics.  I had been demoted and suspended because of a street fight, I got jumped by some thugs and charges were brought against me because I am a professional fighter with extensive training.  Aizen made a deal and I spent 6 months on the bench and we had to pay out to keep everyone quiet.”

“Hm, he sounds like a piece of work.  I’m not too worried though.  I won’t live my life in fear because of some weirdo.”

“You aren’t alone in your decision are you?  I saw something earlier, your eyes flashed silver.  Was that Zangetsu?”

“I don’t know, Shiro is with me on this but Zan, he is a bit more cautious.  He doesn’t want me to go looking for trouble but he will be with me if it finds me.”

Grimmjow looked relieved, “I think I like Zangetsu, I don’t want you looking for trouble either.”

“That’s funny, Shiro likes you.  Zan has kept his opinion to himself.”

_ I believe he is a good match for you.  However I must caution you, his love of battle will feed yours.  Be careful that your relationship doesn’t burn you both. _

“Well then never mind, Zan thinks you are a good match for me.  He said we need to be careful that our mutual love of fighting will feed each other’s and we could end up hurting each other.”

“He sounds like an old man, but its good advice.”

“It’s late baby, let’s get some sleep.”  Ichigo turned off the light and curled up into Grimmjow’s body pillowing his head on the man’s solid chest.  Grimmjow hummed and settled in and drifted off to sleep.  Ichigo laid there for a bit longer thinking about his new stalker and finally noticed the gentle noise coming from Grimmjow.  Grimmjow was purring, the sound was soothing and lulled Ichigo into a peaceful sleep.

XOXOXOXOX

Neither Ichigo nor Grimmjow had a match the next morning so they slept in before heading to the arena to watch their teammates.  As they took their seats Grimmjow noticed Luppi sitting a few rows down from them, he nudged Ichigo and pointed him out.  Ichigo growled and chose to ignore the man for the time being. 

Turning their attention back to the match getting ready to start Grimmjow turned to Ichigo with a confused look on his face, “Um, I know that Hitsugaya kid is a Shinigami, but why was he announced as Taichou?”

“Oh, I guess that wasn’t explained to you all.  The Shinigami are divided into 13 groups, the Gotei 13.  Each division has a leader, the Taichou and a second in command, the Fukutaichou.  There are seated fighters that fall under each division, normally four of them.  The seated officers fight in lower ranking competitions and fill in for injured higher ranking offices if needed.”

“Oh, we have Fraccion, each fighter has anywhere from one to six of them.  They are our responsibility to train and mentor.  They are kinda like your seated officers.  What about the Vizored? Do they have lower ranking fighters?”

“Yes, they are called the Ryoka and the Quincy.  There are two Quincy’s Uryuu and his father Ryuuken, they rarely fight, and they specialize in Kuta, a form of Egyptian martial arts.  The Ryoka consist of Inoue Orihime, Chad, Shiba Ganju, and Karin.  Karin is only a provisional fighter; she competes in youth competitions only right now.  Orihime only fights as a last resort, she is more of the team trainer and medic.  Ganju is a brute his fighting style is more akin to American boxing than martial arts.  And then there is Chad, strong as an ox and solid as a brick wall, you would think that he was all brute as well but that is not the case, he has trained extensively in Rumi Maki and Capoeira, both are types of martial arts from South America, Peru and Brazil I think.”

“Wow, diverse group.  Hey question, how old is that kid any way?”  Grimmjow pointed to Toshiro who was in the middle of his match against an opponent that was three times his size.

“Don’t let him hear you call him a kid,” Ichigo laughed, “He’s actually 24.  He looks younger than he is.  He is one of the strongest among the Gotei 13 though.  His match is almost over, just watch and see.”

“What do you mean it’s almost over, he hasn’t landed a single blow yet.”

“I know, it’s been about 10 minutes already, his matches never exceed 20 minutes.  He’s been analyzing his opponent.  He is a genius, his tactics are to analyze and dissect.  Ah, here he goes just watch.”

Grimmjow’s eyes widened in surprise as he watched the small white haired captain begin to move and attack his opponent.  In less than three minutes the larger man was on the ground unable to move, Toshiro had used his knowledge of human anatomy to disable his opponent.  “He fights like Ulquiorra, it’s kinda scary.  Hey Nnoi is up next, you gotta watch this.  Nnoi is brutal.”

Ichigo turned back to the floor as Nnoitra squared off with his opponent, a large man from Nagasaki.  Nnoitra had is trademark grin on his face and his usual black eye patch was replaced by a white one.  As Ichigo watched him fight he was surprised at how gracefully he moved, Nnoitra was close to 7 ft tall and had the grace of a ballerina in the ring.  Grimmjow was right, Nnoitra was brutal, his attacks were fast and hard, inflicting the maximum damage possible.  Ichigo could hear his laughter from where he was sitting and gave a small shudder, Nnoitra was scary but mesmerizing to watch.  The match ended quickly and Ichigo and Grimmjow went to get some lunch before Ichigo’s first match.  They both noticed their unwelcome shadow.


	18. Chapter 18

Luppi followed the two around for the rest of the day, taking a front row seat to watch Ichigo’s match.  He needed to assess the other mans fighting ability to determine how to drive this one away from Grimmjow.  Ichigo easily ignored the man and focused on is match, when his opponent was announced he groaned.  While he was aware that he would be fighting members of his own company he didn’t expect his first match to be against Shinji.  Shinji fought like a mad man, he was one of the few that Ichigo sparred with at full strength, it was the only way to survive against Shinji’s Vale tudo style.  Ichigo could hear Shiro crowing in the back of his mind, excitement racing through his veins, not all of it his own.  Shinji grinned at Ichigo and launched as soon as the match began.  Ichigo dodged countering with an elbow to the back of Shinji’s neck.  Shinji stumbled and fell to his knees when Ichigo’s foot connected with the side of his head.  Shinji quickly regained his footing and began to giggle; he launched at Ichigo again this time connecting with jaw.  They continued to exchange blows, neither gaining any ground at first.  Their match reached the thirty minute mark and the officials called next blow would win the match.

_King, let me!  I can end this quick!_

“No, you can’t come out.  If Shinji see’s my eyes change he’ll think I’m cheating or something.”

_I can do it without changing your eyes; you’ll still have full control._

“Ok then, let’s do it.”

Ichigo felt a sudden rush of adrenalin and suddenly rushed Shinji, to most it looked like a desperate move, but Shiro was faster and able to dodge Shinji’s counter, landing a solid blow to the blond’s solar plexus.  Ichigo won by a single blow.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow was waiting after Ichigo changed his cloths and exited the locker room.  They decided to meet up with Nnoi and Shinji for dinner.  Their shadow was close behind.  He soon vanished though when they met up with Nnoitra.  Grimmjow told his brother that Luppi was back after they had been seated.  Nnoitra growled and looked around.

“I’ll kill that bastard if I ever see him again,” Nnoitra swore, “I can’t believe he has the guts to come around again.”

“Yeah he’s been following the Berry, Aizen knows and isn’t happy.”

“Stop calling me Berry!  I told you I’m not worried about him.”

Dinner was an enjoyable affair; everyone relaxed and had a good time.  Shinji complained about his latest bruise, wondering when Ichigo had gotten so fast.  Grimmjow smiled at him, he knew where that speed had come from.  He’d ask later when they went to bed though to be sure.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Luppi watched the two men return to their room, he was fuming, that boy had his hands on something that did not belong to him!  Luppi decided that he would take care of the orange haired interloper.  He went to his room to plan his next step.  He would have his Grimmjow back; no one would stand in his way.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow walked out of the bathroom to see Ichigo stretched out on the bed, clad only in boxer briefs.  Grimmjow smirked and stripped to get ready for bed, forgoing the pajama pants for the night.  Ichigo turned his head and watched as Grimmjow undressed and climbed into the bed naked.  He fought the urge to roll over and run his hands along the perfect body lying next to him, he wanted to see if Grimmjow would make the first move.

_King, things are getting a little weird in here.  You need to get laid, just jump him for god’s sake!_

“Shiro shut up and go away; I don’t need you in my head right now!”  Ichigo could feel Shiro retreating into the recesses of his mind, laughing the whole time.  He groaned at the sound, causing Grimmjow to roll over and look at him with concern.

“You ok Ichi?”

“Yeah, I just wish the voices in my head weren’t insane.  I had to banish Shiro to deepest recesses of my mind, he’s a pervert.”

Grimmjow laughed, “I just thought of something, having sex with you is almost like having a foursome.”

Ichigo scoffed and punched him n the arm, “That is so not funny!”

Grimmjow laughed again and moved closer to Ichigo, bringing his lips close to his ear.  “Come to think of it, we haven’t actually had sex yet,” Grimmjow said softly, his lips brushing against the sensitive skin, “I think we need to rectify that.”  His tongue slipped out and trailed along the outer shell of Ichigo’s ear.  Ichigo moaned quietly, his body instantly reacting to the feel of Grimmjow.

Grimmjow shifted his weight so he was laying partially on top of Ichigo, their bare chests pressed together as he captured Ichigo’s lips in a gentle kiss.  Their lips moved perfectly against each others, Ichigo was the first to deepen the kiss, his tongue running along the seam of Grimmjow’s mouth, begging for entrance.  Grimmjow granted him access and brought his hand up to cup the side of Ichigo’s face.  Shifting his weight again he straddled the smaller man’s hips, grinding his hips into Ichigo’s causing the smaller man to moan into the kiss.  Grimmjow smirked, thinking that this time he would assert his dominance over the red head.  He soon realized how wrong he was, Ichigo was still in control no matter what position he was in currently. 

Grimmjow moved his lips to the smooth column of Ichigo’s neck, nipping and licking his way down to his collarbone.  Ichigo moaned and writhed under Grimmjow’s ministrations.  He loved the feeling of Grimmjow exploring his body with his mouth and hands.  Grimmjow licked down his chest until he reached Ichigo’s pink nipple, he rolled it around with his tongue and sucked it into his mouth, scraping his teeth across it as he released it.  Moving across to the other nipple and repeating.  Ichigo reacted like a wanton whore to the sensations running through his body, he needed more.  Ichigo’s hands began to roam over the man’s back as he continued to travel lower.  Ichigo felt hands playing with waist of his underwear; he instinctually lifted his hips to make removing them easier.  Grimmjow slid them down exposing Ichigo’s weeping member.  His tongue flicked out sweeping the pre-cum from the tip causing Ichigo‘s hips to buck his hips.  Grimmjow hummed and ran his lips along the full length before slowly sucking the head into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the head before slowly taking in more, inch by slow inch.  Ichigo whined and squirmed at the torture, begging with his body for Grimmjow to speed up.  Grimmjow couldn’t help but comply; he quickly swallowed the rest of him in once smooth movement.  Ichigo buried his hands him the blue hair moving up and down in his lap. 

Ichigo knew that he didn’t want this to end too quickly, so he tightened his grip on the hair and pulled the man off of his dick and into another soul searing kiss.  While Grimmjow was distracted Ichigo hooked his leg around the solid thigh above him and flipped both of them over, his lips never breaking contact.  When the need for air finally overrode the need to deepen the kiss Ichigo pulled back taking in gasping breaths into deprived lungs.  He buried his face in the tempting flesh of Grimmjow’s neck.  His tongue tracing lazy patterns along the corded muscle.  “I told you last time, I am going to be the first to fuck your tight ass.  I gave you time to get used to the idea, now tonight I’m gonna make good on that promise.” 

Grimmjow stiffened at the words; he still wasn’t ready for this step.  His mind started to try to come up with excuses for not letting Ichigo near his ass, but the only thought that would take root was, “I trust Ichigo, if I am ever gonna let someone do THAT to me it would be him.  I actually am kinda excited about the thought, especially after last time.”  Grimmjow gave up and surrendered to the pleasure Ichigo was causing. 

Ichigo felt the resistance melt out of Grimmjow’s body and knew that he had won.  He trailed kisses down Grimmjow’s body as he reached for his bag, digging around blindly he finally pulled out a small bottle of lube.  Keeping Grimmjow distracted he popped open the top and squeezed a small amount onto his fingers.  He used his dry hand to gently part Grimmjow’s legs and settled between them.  “Do you want me to suck you off?  You have to tell me what you want.  It makes me hot to hear your voice.”

“Oh, god, Ichi.  Please suck on it.”

Ichigo closed his lips around Grimmjow’s pulsing cock, sucking hard and fast.  He brought his slicked fingers to Grimmjow’s entrance slowly circling his entrance to warn him of what was t come.  When Grimmjow relaxed Ichigo slipped one finger into his puckered hole, Grimmjow whined and squirmed against the intrusion.  Ichigo gave a particularly hard suck and pushed his finger in the rest of the way, he kept his hand still to let Grimmjow adjust.  “Mmm, you need to relax, you’re so tight.  Trust me to make you feel good, you need to relax though or it will hurt.”  Grimmjow forced his body to relax as Ichigo continued to distract him with his wonderfully wicked mouth.  Slowly Ichigo began to move his finger in and out starting to stretch his lover, after a few moments he added a second finger, moving a little faster this time.  He began to scissor his fingers and feel around for that one magic spot, after a few tries Grimmjow suddenly cried out, “there, oh god, do it again.”  Ichigo growled around the organ still in his mouth as he hit the prostate again, Grimmjow cried out again and came hard down Ichigo’s throat.  Pulling away from the softening member Ichigo licked his lips and used Grimmjow’s orgasmic high to push a third finger in and stretch him further.  He continued his assault on the man’s prostate watching as his erection was reawakened and when he finally began to push back against the fingers inside him Ichigo pulled them out, smirking at the disappointed whine that escaped Grimmjow’s throat.

“Don’t worry, I have something even better for you,” Ichigo cooed as he poured some of the slippery liquid into his hand using it to slick his throbbing cock.  He positioned himself at Grimmjow’s entrance, “Are you ready?  Tell me now if you want me to stop.”  Ichigo said, not sure if he could actually stop at this point, but needing to give Grimmjow that option to back out now.  Grimmjow moaned and pushed his hips down causing Ichigo’s dick to push against his hole; Ichigo groaned and took that as an indication to continue.  Leaning down he kissed Grimmjow as he slowly pushed past the first ring of resistance.  He felt Grimmjow tense up, “relax, I promise the pain is fleeting.”  Grimmjow forced his lower body to relax again and Ichigo pushed further in, as slowly as he could.  It was incredible, Grimmjow was so tight, and Ichigo’s control was slipping.  Finally his hips connected with Grimmjow’s and he held himself still allowing Grimmjow to adjust. 

Grimmjow’s breathing was ragged, the pain was unbearable, he couldn’t understand why anyone found this to be pleasurable.  He could feel Ichigo’s body shaking above him, showing how much of a strain it was not to pound into the man underneath him.  The pain had subsided to a burn and he shifted his hips to try to relieve the discomfort of feeling overly full.  Ichigo groaned, “you need to stop that unless you are ready, my control is about to snap.”  Grimmjow looked at Ichigo’s face and saw the truth of this in his eyes.  He lifted his hips signaling the smaller man to start moving, he figured the sooner they started the sooner it would be done.  As Ichigo slowly pulled out and pushed back in, Grimmjow was grateful that he was moving slow, allowing his body to get used to the new actions.  Ichigo set a slow steady pace, using all of his self control to not hurt the man, but he felt like heaven, his inner walls clenching around his cock as he shifted his angle, he needed to make Grimmjow feel as good as he did.  With the new angle he was able to push in deeper and hit Grimmjow’s prostate dead on.

Grimmjow’s eyes flew open, wait when had he closed them, and he cried out as pleasure flooded his body.  Ichigo growled in response and picked up his pace, moving faster, hitting his prostate harder with every thrust.  Grimmjow became a pile of writhing, moaning goo.  Ichigo felt nails bite into the skin on his back, leaving trails of blood in their wake.  The pain was exquisite, only serving to heighten his pleasure; he let out an animalistic growl grabbing Grimmjow’s legs pushing his knees up into his chest, allowing him to pound into the willing body harder and faster.  Both men were moving on pure instinct now, neither one could speak, only loud grunts and moans could be heard along with the slapping of skin as their bodies met over and over.  Grimmjow felt the coil pulling tighter and tighter with every thrust, the look in Ichigo’s eyes hurdling him closer to the edge.  “S-so cl-close, I-i-ich……”

Ichigo reached in between their bodies and grasped Grimmjow’s neglected length and began to pump it in time with his frantic thrusts, he needed Grimmjow to cum first.  Grimmjow exploded under the duel stimulation, it took only a few strokes of his hand and Grimmjow was screaming out his release, long strings of cum spurting out over his stomach and chest.  Ichigo felt the inner walls surrounding him clamp down milking him into his own release; he exploded into Grimmjow’s tight passage. 

Ichigo collapsed onto the chest below him allowing Grimmjow’s legs to fall back to the bed, as they lay there trying to catch the breaths.  Grimmjow brought his arms up and wrapped them around Ichigo’s neck pulling him into a slow soft kiss.  “Wow that was…”  Grimmjow breathed.

Ichigo smiled and said “I know, did you enjoy yourself?”

“Oh god, yes.  Next time I get to be on top though, I want the pleasure of pounding you into the mattress as well.”

“Well of course, I like to bottom just as much as I like to top.”

Before Grimmjow could respond Ichigo’s phone went off, pulling out of Grimmjow he rolled over and grabbed it just as Grimmjow’s phone began to ring.  Tossing the phone to his lover he opened his own to see it was a text message from Shinji.

U know I’m in the room next to u?-Shinji

So?-Ichigo

What were u doing to that man that made him scream?-Shinji

Ichigo smirked and looked at Grimmjow who was turning red as he looked at his phone.

I took his ass cherry-Ichigo

OMG! U dirty boy! I want details tomorrow. Good night.-Shinji

Grimmjow was having a similar conversation with Nnoitra on his phone.

Dude, u scream like a bitch-Nnoi

Fuck u- Grimm

Nope, sounded like the berry boy already did that to u-Nnoi

Why r u in my business NEways? - Grimm

I’m across the hall from u; I can hear everything-Nnoi

Fuck-Grimm

Yup, Shuhei is scared 4 life-Nnoi

Damn-Grimm

Next time make sure u fuck him, I don’t want a bitch 4 a brother-Nnoi

Fuck off, go to sleep-Grimm

Grimmjow looked at Ichigo and smirked, “So who heard us?”

“Shinji, he’s next door.  You?”

“Nnoi, across the hall.”

“I think we may need to invest in a gag, either that or learn to deal with the aftermath of our families hearing us.”

Grimmjow growled as he grabbed Ichigo and pulled him in close, “shut up and go to sleep.”  Ichigo smiled pulling the blanket up over them and snuggled into Grimmjow, easily slipping into a deep sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

_King!  What the fuck are you trying to do to us?  Look at this place._

Ichigo opened his eyes to find that he was lying on a cracked building in his inner world, Shiro and Zangetsu standing over him, eyeing him with curiosity.  Ichigo sat up growling, and stopped as he got a good look around him.  The buildings had varying degrees of damage ranging from broken windows to missing chunks of masonry.  Everywhere he turned he saw foliage pushing its way up through the wreckage.  Ichigo looked at his amused partners questioningly.

“Fuck happened here?”

_You just had to top the kitty!  Last week it was a little earthquake, tonight was remodeling of apocalyptic proportions!  The buildings will repair themselves eventually, but what about all these damn plants?!  They aren’t gonna go away, eve time I pull one it grows back bigger!_   Shiro whined sounding like a petulant child.

_ Quiet child, this will continue to happen as Ichigo’s soul expands.  You need not call him here to complain, I have already explained why this is happening. _

_I hate this type of violence; I cannot control it or gain any enjoyment from it.  Maybe if I hadn’t been banished I could have at least enjoyed the cause._

“I’m leaving, I need to get some sleep and don’t have time to deal with you being bitchy.  I’ll come see you tomorrow when I have time, is that good enough for now?  Will you leave me alone and let me sleep!”

_ Yes, Ichigo, go now.  I will keep him from you unless you need him. _

XOXOXOXOXOX

Luppi sat at a table by himself, listening to the two men at the next table.  His blood was boiling, he fought the urge to grab the blond haired man and demand he repeat himself.

Shinji sat eating breakfast with a dumbfounded Kensei; Shinji couldn’t stop laughing as he told Kensei about what he’d heard last night.

“Ichigo had Big Blue screaming, I wouldn’t believe that his voice could go so high if I hadn’t heard it.”  Shinji exclaimed, “When I asked him what he was doing to the poor man t make those sounds come out he told me he took his ass cherry!  I know Ichi, and I know his dominant streak, but I can’t believe that Grimmjow actually bottomed!  He so doesn’t seem the type.”

Luppi’s jaw was twitching, he had to have heard wrong!

Kensei looked up as two others joined their table; he smiled as Shuhei sat next to him.  Nnoitra had an evil glint in his eye as he watched Shuhei blush again; he had been torturing the smaller man all morning over his horrified reactions the night before.  Kensei looked at Shuhei with an eyebrow raised, “Hey you, what’s up?”

“Nothing,” Shuhei sulked, which made Nnoitra cackle madly.

“We were kept up rather late last night.  Poor Shuhei is having an adverse reaction to strange noises,” Nnoitra snickered.  Shinji’s eyes lit up and he started crying with the effort it took to suppress his laughter.

“I forgot you were across the hall, I was in the room next to them!  When Starrk wakes up you should ask him if he slept through it or just pretended.  If he missed it I want to know how he sleeps like that!”

Luppi couldn’t move, he needed to get away from the group, but with Nnoitra there he had to stay hidden.  His anger and his fear battled each other for dominance, hearing his name though snapped his attention back to the other table.

Shuhei had finally seemed to calm down enough to join in to the conversation, “Hey Nnoi, I know you heard Luppi is here.  What do you think he’d say if he found out about last night?  I would love to be the one to tell him, right after you beat him within an inch of his life.” 

Nnoitra growled and the violet of his eye flashed almost black with malice.  Shinji and Kensei watched him with curiosity and caution.  “Nnoi, are you ok?  I know who Luppi is but I don’t understand your hatred of him.  The only thing that I know about the situation is that he’s stalking Ichi because of some obsession with Grimm.  Is there more to the story?”  Shinji asked softly.  Nnoitra looked at him and back at Shuhei and nodded to his brother.

Shuhei took a deep breath and said, “You need to understand a few things about that so called relationship between Luppi and Grimmjow, it was always more to Luppi than Grimm…..”

_Three years ago_

_Grimmjow walked in with a small dark-haired man attached to his arm, his family looked up expectantly._

_“This is Luppi, we just started dating.”_

_“HI! It’s so nice to meet Grimmy’s family; I just know that we’ll all be the greatest of friends!”_

_The two boys sat down and began to talk with the other teens everyone trying to get a feel for a-sexual looking teen.  Aizen and Gin observed their children and as the evening went on Gin began to have a feeling that this boy was going to cause trouble.  Aizen looked at the clock, it was 10pm on a school night, clearing his throat he announced it was time for Luppi to leave and his kids to go to bed.  Gin watched as Grimmjow walked the small boy to the door arguing with him quietly, Gin’s hearing was amazingly acute and he heard Luppi begging to stay the night and Grimmjow turning him down, they had only met that morning._

_Luppi became more and more clingy and demanding of Grimmjow as the months went on.  Grimmjow was often heard complaining to his brothers about the boy, everyone in the family implored him to get rid of the leach.  Grimmjow put it off and put it off claiming that he didn’t have the time to deal with it, between school and his budding career in professional mixed martial arts.  During the year that they were ‘together’ Grimmjow never made sexual advances toward the other, he told his sister, Harribel, that he had no desire to penetrate the feminine body, if he was physically attracted to that type he would date women.  Harribel had a deep seated dislike for Luppi, the first time they met she hugged her brother and the small man tried to attack her in a jealous rage.  She is however far from weak and quite possibly one of the scariest women on earth, she does not stand for childish shit.  Luppi spent a week in the hospital recovering from a concussion and five broken ribs, Grimmjow never visited him once.  Harribel threatened her brother with bodily harm if he stayed with the obsessed freak, he obviously didn’t love him and by his own admission it wasn’t sexual.  Grimmjow finally asked Aizen for a few days off so he could take care of the situation, which was given easily, everyone wanted Grimm to move on._

_The day Luppi got out of the hospital he showed up at Grimmjow’s house hysterical because Grimmjow never came to see him.  Aizen told the boy that he wasn’t home, to come back later.  Luppi however sat on the curb in front of the house for hours until Grimmjow and Nnoitra came home.  The brothers didn’t notice Luppi sitting there as they continued talking about the exhibition fight they had just come from._

_“Hey Nnoi, did you see that guy with the white hair?  I thought he was an old dude at first but when I got up close to him he was hot!  He can’t be more than 25 years old; to bad he’s from Karakura.”_

_“I know, the Seireitei has some choice ass in their stable.  You know we are supposed to be competing in another competition in Tokyo in a few months, you could always hook up with the guy as a fuck buddy for the road.”_

_Luppi sneered at Nnoitra and jumped to his feet; he launched himself into Grimmjow’s arms and began crying again.  “Grimmy, why didn’t you come visit me?  I missed you so much!”_

_Grimmjow growled and pried the bay off of him, “Luppi, we need to talk.  This isn’t working for me anymore; it hasn’t been for a long time.  I guess I’ve been to lazy and preoccupied to bother breaking it off sooner.  You need to leave, go find someone that actually finds you attractive.”_

_“Grimmy, what are you saying?  You don’t mean it!  You love me, I know you do.  You belong to me; everyone is against us because they are jealous!  I won’t give up on us!”_

_“Leave now, I don’t love you, I never did.”  Grimmjow walked off going through the front door followed by a grinning Nnoitra._

_“’Bout time, blue.  He’s annoying.”_

_Two days later Nnoitra was going to corner store when he was attacked from behind.  Luppi in a unstable craze believed that Nnoitra was the cause of Grimmjow leaving him, if he could get rid of lanky teen then Grimmjow would come back to him.  Nnoitra was by far the larger and stronger of the two, but Luppi was prepared to fight dirty.  As Nnoitra reached behind him to throw his attacker over his shoulder he felt a sudden searing pain across the left side of his face.  Nnoitra threw the small man against the wall knocking him unconscious, and stumbled his way back to his house, holding his hand over his left eye to stem the blood flow.  Szayel was the first to see his brother come through the door and yelled for their father, Szayel immediately went into medic mode.  Nel assisted in cleaning and patching the wound before they rushed him to the hospital._

_Nnoitra woke the next morning and found the left side of his face was covered in bandages.  He was told that Luppi had vanished and the police were still looking for him.  Luppi had apparently tried to stab him  through the eye, but only managed to gouge the knife across it, he had a cut that ran from just above his eyebrow down to his cheek bone, they weren’t sure if he was going to retain the use of his eye or not.  Three weeks later the bandages were removed and Nnoitra was horrified to find that his eye had developed a dark grey film over it and had only minimal sight, he could see blurry shapes.  Nnoitra vowed to kill the little man if he ever saw him again._

Shinji looked at Nnoitra as Shuhei finished his story, he had his jaw clenched and sat stiffly as those memories flooded back.  It had taken him almost a year to adjust to having only one eye, even longer to be able to fight again.  Shinji knew that his lover needed to think about something else so he leaned in and whispered “If you need to we can go back to your room for some nice rough angry sex.”

Nnoitra looked at him and broke out with a Cheshire cat grin, “Later Blondie, right now we gotta go, Shuhei has a match this morning.”

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Luppi bristled at the obviously false opinions of his and Grimmjow’s relationship.  After the other table had been vacated he got up and made his way to the lobby to watch for his man.  His mind was still trying to wrap itself around the information he heard earlier.  That orange haired _substitute_ was going to pay for defiling HIS Grimmy.


	20. Chapter 20

Luppi was giddy, after following the two men for the better part of the week he finally had an opening.  Grimmjow had second round match and Ichigo had been asked to meet with his sensei.  Ichigo was in the weird blond mans room and Luppi was dancing in his hiding spot down the hall. 

“What’s up Kisuke?”  Ichigo asked sitting down across from his kyoukan.

“There is going to be several exhibition fights and demonstrations at the end of competition.  Each dojo is to submit a fighter for a match or demonstration; I would like to submit your name for a demonstration with the uchigatana.  You are one of the few people in the country who has any real skill with it.”

“That’s fine, I guess.  As long as I’m not too banged up after the competition.”

“Agreed, a sword that large requires you to be in good condition to handle it.”  Smirked Urahara, “I have been meaning to ask you, how goes things with Shiro and Zangetsu?  And have you had any problems with your stalker?”

“I have not seen Luppi at all.  The other two are fine; they give me no real problems.  Zangetsu seems to be the sane one and he keeps Shiro leashed for the most part.  They talk to me and teach me things about myself, things I buried or refuse to see.”

“I’m glad that you are adjusted to the situation, I was afraid that you might not be able to handle the voices.  Speaking of voices, Rukia –chan made a comment the other day about a song that fits you.  She said it was your ring tone and would be a good background to the demonstration.  Do you know what she’s talking about?”

Ichigo turned red, “Uh, yeah.  It’s called Voices by Rev Theory.  I have it on my iPod; I’ll give it to you later.”

“Ok, Ichi, no w why don’t you go ahead and get downstairs, Grimmjow’s match should be about to start.”

Ichigo left the room and made his way to the elevator, a small figure slipped up behind him, Ichigo felt the needle pierce his neck and then nothing, his world went black.  He could hear Shiro yelling but could not make out the words.  Luppi picked up Ichigo’s limp body and carried him into the elevator, one floor up he entered his room and tossed the boy on the bed.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow returned to his room grumbling to himself the entire way, Ichigo never made it to his match.  Damn Urahara even kept him through dinner.  When Grimmjow opened the door the room was dark, something didn’t feel right.  The room was empty; on the bed were Ichigo’s cell phone and a piece of paper.  Grimmjow’s stomach fell as he reached for the paper.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Aizen, Kisuke, Byakuya, and Yamamoto were standing in Grimmjow and Ichigo’s room, Grimmjow sat on the edge of the bed with his head hanging low. 

“Grimmjow, give the note you found,” Aizen said softly, he hated seeing his son hurting.  Grimmjow handed over the paper and the four older men gathered around to read it.

**_Grimmy,_ **

**_Baby, I am going to take care of the substitute you’ve been playing with.  Soon we can be together again, with no distractions.  I’ll meet you tonight when I’ve finished with the orange haired kid.  I know that you are as excited as me to finally be able to be together again._ **

**_I love you,_ **

**_Luppi_ **

Aizen pulled out his phone and called Gin, “Gin, get to the security office.  Ichigo has been taken by Luppi.  I’ll get the boys started on a search.  We have to hurry, he makes it sound like he’s gonna kill him.”

Kisuke was busy typing out a text to bring all of his fighters to the room, Byakuya was doing the same.  Yamamoto stepped outside on the balcony to call his son to tell him that his only son had been abducted.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

_KING!!  Wake the fuck up, we don’t have time for you to lay around on your ass all day!  This crazy fucker is gonna kill you.  And I will not be a horse to a king that is too weak to die without a fight; I’ll kill you first and take your place._

_ Shiro, be quiet.  Ichigo now is the time to rise.  Your life is in danger, this man is not stable.  MOVE NOW OR YOU WILL DIE! _

“What the hell happened?  Where am I?”  Ichigo asked as he looked around the room. 

_That little fucker drugged you._

“What?  Why can’t I move?”

_ It’s the drugs, they have paralyzed you.  I can help you, but only if you are strong enough to deserve it. _

“What do I have to do?”

_ What do you want to live for? _

“I want to live for the people I love.”

_ Who? Your friends, your family?  That love is great but not enough. _

“What more do you want?”

_ You need to admit the truth; until you accept your heart your soul is unstable.  The changes that you noticed need to be completed.  What are you hiding from yourself?  What is the truth in your heart? _

“I don’t know.  I’m not hiding anything that I know of.”

_ Search, and quickly.  You are running out of time. _

Ichigo frowned and began to think hard, what was he hiding?  What would complete the changes to his soul?  What had started the changes?  Ichigo opened his eyes and hovering above him was Shiro, the light shining through his white hair reflected the bright cyan blue of the sky.  Wait, blue, I need to remember, what is it about blue?  Ichigo groaned and closed his eyes again.

_Zan, I don’t think he’s gonna be able……_ Shiro was cut off by a sudden violent tremor that sent shock waves through the increasingly unstable world.  Ichigo squeezed his eyes closed even tighter, shit; he needed to figure this crap out now.

_ Ichigo, we are running out of time.  You need to find your reason to live, your reason to fight; you need to find the source of your resolve. _

“I’m trying! Damn it, I can’t think of anything but the color blue!”  The ground shook harder; Ichigo could hear pieces of the buildings falling away.  Under his back he could feel cracks forming, but he could do nothing but think, “Why is blue so important?  Why can’t I remember?”

Ichigo knew that both Shiro and Zangetsu talking to him but he couldn’t hear them anymore, he was consumed by blue.  Blue, blue, blue eyes suddenly swam across his vision.  Blue, blue, blue hair, so soft.  He could feel the silken strands running through his fingers.  He felt a flash of something, his chest contracted, his breath quickened, he felt pain in the core of his being.

“Zan, why do I hurt?”

_ I cannot tell you, only you know that answer. _

Why do I hurt?  Where is this pain coming from?  If I die the pain will go away.  As soon as that thought crossed his mind a searing pain hit Ichigo, it felt like his heart was being torn to shreds.  His inner world crumbled faster.  If I die, the pain will be worse.  Why?  Why should I live?  Dad, Yuzu, Karin, Kisuke, ojiisan, all of my friends…….there’s something, no someone missing.  Blue………

Ichigo’s eyes shot open and a sudden heat flooded through him, radiating out and blanketing his world.  Blue!  Grimmjow!  Ichigo felt something inside him melt and he was able to move again.  Sitting up he looked around and gasped, his world was still on its side, but now it had large patches of jungle growing from the sides of the buildings, deep turquoise water flowed between the buildings, and a large panther sat in front of him, its fur so black it shown blue in the sunlight.  Ichigo stared into the big cat’s eyes, cyan blue eyes, and reached out a hand to pet the animal regarding him quietly.  The cat began to purr as Ichigo ran his hand over the ears, he smirked, “You sound just like Grimmjow.”

_ Have you figured it out yet? _

“My heart, I’m afraid to let anyone in, not since mom died.  Somehow Grimmjow found his way in without me noticing.  Grimmjow is my reason to survive; I never want to cause him the pain I felt.”

_ Very good, Ichigo.  Now get up, the time has come to fight. _

Shiro cackled madly, dancing around Ichigo and Zangetsu.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow and every fighter from Soul Society searched the building while Gin sat in the security office going over security tapes.  Gin’s phone rang causing the slight man to start; answering it without taking his eyes off of the screens in front of him it took a moment to register the voice on the other end.

“Gin…..Gin…..are you there?”

“Huh, oh, sorry…. (pause this)….Tousen, is that you?”

“Yes, Aizen called me; I was already in Yokohama on another job, so I am pulling up to the hotel now.  I was told to meet with you to get the details.”

“I’ll have someone meet you; I’m in the security office right now.”

“No need, I’ll be there in a moment.”  With that the line went dead.

“There is a man coming to meet me, he has long braided hair and is blind, he will most likely make it to this door before you ever see him.”  A few seconds later a tall dark skinned man wearing dark glasses walked in.

“So Gin, what has happened?”

“Kurosaki Ichigo has been abducted by Luppi.  We need to find him fast, or I fear the worst may happen.”

Gin looked up but Tousen was already gone.  Gin smirked and almost felt sorry for Luppi if Tousen was the one to find him.  The man only sought justice and had a very violent way of exacting it.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow was getting more frantic as time passed, he had to find Ichigo, he had to tell him the truth, the truth of what was in his heart.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Luppi was sitting in a chair watching Ichigo; he had to wait until he woke up.  It wouldn’t do to kill a man without telling him why.  That touching what didn’t belong to him was a crime punishable by death, and a painful death at that.  Luppi started laughing as he played with his wakizashi.


	21. Chapter 21

Ichigo slowly emerged back into consciousness, careful not to alert Luppi.  Using minute movements he assessed his ability to move, the fool didn’t even tie him down, he must be counting on the drugs to keep me paralyzed.  Opening his eyes the slightest bit he noted that Luppi wasn’t really watching him closely.  Ichigo took a minute and to plan out what to do, he didn’t even know where he was.

XOXOXOXOXOX

“Ah, got you.”  Gin smiled, pulling out his phone, “Aizen, he got him outside of Kisuke’s room and took him two floors down, I do not know which room, he avoided the rest of the cameras.  Tousen is already on that floor tracking the boy.”

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Tousen moved along the hallway, staying directly in the center, his heightened hearing picking up every noise from each door he passed.  He had gotten Gin’s message, the boy was on this floor.  He paused at two intersecting hallways, letting his instincts direct him down the left one.  His heart beat picked up slightly, the thrill of the hunt flooding him.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow was ready to start breaking down doors, his panic rising with each room.  His heart was pounding and his breathing was ragged, he was going to pass out if he didn’t calm down.  Starrk kept pace with him and tried to help ease his brother.  He was afraid of what would happen to Grimmjow if they were too late.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

_ Ichigo, it is time to fight. _

_Yes, King, it’s time to let me come out and play.  Use me, I am yours to command._

“Ok Shiro, lend me your strength.  Let us fight and live, then return to my lover.”

_ Ichigo I cannot help you unless it is the last resort, I can only offer advice.  Shiro must be your strength but I will be here if you need me. _

Ichigo opened his eyes and sprung off the bed in one fluid move.  Luppi’s eyes were wide with shock; he hadn’t expected that at all.  How could the boy move?  The drug he had injected him with caused prolonged paralysis.  Oh well, Luppi would still kill him.  Standing in an almost lazy fashion Luppi turned and faced Ichigo.

“You really should have stayed away from my man; he was not yours to touch.  Grimmjow loves me not you, he will never love anyone but me.”

“Look Luppi, I don’t know what your problem is but you need help.  Grimmjow isn’t with you because he doesn’t like you.  If you think that this is gonna make him want you back, you’re nuts.”  Ichigo said slowly edging his way toward the door.  Luppi sneered at him and lunged taking a long swipe with the short sword.  Ichigo was caught off guard and only managed to avoid the major damage, the swords blade biting into his bicep.  The pain was almost blinding, Ichigo almost falling over from the surprise of it.

“Shiro, I need you.  I am not fast enough to get through that small space without him getting me with that damn sword.”

_Yes King, we are gonna have to be careful, but we can do it._

Ichigo felt Shiro’s presence surge forward, his bloodlust overwhelming.  Luppi watched as Ichigo’s stance shifted and body became more relaxed.  Ichigo looked up with a grin that sent chills down Luppi’s spine and pure rage shined in his golden eyes.  Wait Luppi could swear that Ichigo’s eyes were brown.  Luppi pushed his unfounded fear deep down and move on with the plan.

“Ichigo, are you giving up?”  Luppi taunted, “You don’t seem as keen to move from that spot anymore.  Are you afraid of getting hurt?  Don’t be, I don’t plan on hurting you, I’ll kill you quickly.”

Shiro looked at the smaller man his grin growing and started to laugh his crazed cackle, “Ah, I see you are a moron as well as insane, Ichigo isn’t here anymore.  I am gonna beat you so bad you will beg for death.”

Luppi’s body shook slightly as the sound of the cold voice and bone chilling laugh.  Shiro coiled his muscle and prepared to strike.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

That sound, I’ve heard that sound!  Grimmjow stopped listening to determine what direction it was coming from.  That was Shiro’s laugh, hearing that sound gave Grimmjow hope, he was alive and he didn’t doubt that Shiro would wipe the floor with Luppi.  Grimmjow grabbed Starrk’s arm and began running in the direction of the sound.  By the time he reached the end of the hallway the laughter had stopped, Grimmjow paused wondering which way to go.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Tousen heard the laughter; it sent a chill through his body.  He somehow knew that he needed to follow that sound t find the boy.  He would not fail in this task, he could not fail.  Isshin would never forgive him; he would never forgive himself if he failed his godson.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Kisuke stopped dead when the laughter stopped; they were in this hallway, which room though.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Luppi looked down at the sword embedded in the red heads side, he had reacted out of fear and stabbed blindly when the boy had launched at him.

Shiro howled in Ichigo’s head, the pain had forced him back into Ichigo’s mind.  How had that shit managed to stab him?  They had an even bigger problem though; Ichigo was currently in here too.  His body was basically an empty shell; no one occupied his conscious mind.

Luppi pulled the sword free and moved to strike again.  He brought the blade back thrusting to aim for the heart, his victim couldn’t move so now was the time to finish it.  Luppi’s sword moved through the air and still Ichigo remained vacant.

XXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Gin and Aizen came up behind Kisuke as he ran through the hall kicking in doors as he went, Gin started kicking in the doors on the other end of the hall, their noise brought Grimmjow and Tousen rushing over.

“Quiet, if you give me a moment of silence I can locate him quickly,” said Tousen.  Everyone got silent and still.  No one dared t breath.  Before Tousen even had a chance to get his bearings they all heard the loud crash coming from several doors down.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

A young man with long flowing hair and eyes that glowed red with malice and unbridled destructive power walked up to Ichigo, placing his arms around the young man he kissed his cheek, **_I am Tensa Zangetsu, you have nothing to fear.  I will unleash the seven levels of hell onto this Earth._**

Luppi was ecstatic, he was so focused on his euphoria that he didn’t see the fire come back to Ichigo’s eyes.  The sword tip stopped barley and inch from its target, a strong bare hand gripping the blade.  Luppi swung his head up to stare into the eyes of the devil himself, burning silver ringed in red, the hate rolling off of the boy in suffocating waves.  Ichigo sneered as he twisted his wrist ripping the sword from Luppi’s hand.

**_ You will die for the harm you have caused this body.  I will drag you to the depths myself. _ **

The red head was on him before he could blink, when did he move?  Luppi couldn’t block the blows that seemed to come from every direction at once, he fell to his knees trying to protect as much of himself as possible.  He yelped as he was pulled up by his hair and thrown across the room impacting the wall hard enough to crack the drywall.  Luppi’s body slumped to the floor, unwilling to move.  Tensa looked at the small crumpled body and advanced on him again, he pulled him up by the front of shirt and threw him against the opposite wall, smirking at the loud crash his body made as it impacted the television.  Moving to strike again Tensa heard a loud banging on the door, picking up the now unconscious body he dragged it to the door wrenching it open he saw all the people Ichigo loved standing there with their jaws on the ground.  Tensa sneered at them and lifted Luppi’s body up for them all to see.

**_ I will always be here to protect.  I will have no mercy on those who deserve none.  I am Tensa Zangetsu; remember my name and what I have done here tonight.   _ **

With that he turned back into the room and launched Luppi’s body one final time, all of Ichigo’s rage, fear, and pain were released with this last burst of violence.  Luppi’s body shattered the sliding glass door and landed in a bloody broken heap on the balcony.  Tensa turned and locked eyes with Grimmjow, he took two steps toward the blue haired man, the fire that had been blazing in his eyes faded and Ichigo collapsed.


	22. Chapter 22

Grimmjow paced the waiting room; they had gotten here hours ago.  The waiting room in the hospital was jammed with all 54 members of the Soul Society, the only sound coming from them was breathing.  Aizen watched his son’s frustration and anguish play across his face as he stalked around the room.  Ichigo had been rushed to the hospital immediately and had been in with the doctors for hours with no word on his condition.  Aizen began to rise to try to comfort his son, but a heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him.  Looking over his shoulder he saw Yamamoto looking down at him, shaking his head.

“Aizen, please allow me.  Isshin will be here any minute, please take care of him; I am not able to handle his emotional outburst as well as you.  Your son is more along my emotional tolerance.”

Aizen nodded, and Yamamoto walked over to prowling teen.  “Grimmjow, you and I should sit and talk.  I have an update on my grandson if you would like to hear it.”

Grimmjow stopped moving and turned to the old man, his eyes wide and imploring.  “Is he ok?”

“Yes, his injuries are only minor.  The worst is the sword that pierced his side, but it only pierced the skin, it missed anything vital.  However he is not waking up for some reason.  The doctors are worried that he has some psychological damage.”

Grimmjow paled, his chest constricted and he dropped to the floor.  His Ichigo wasn’t waking up?  What had happened in that room?  Who exactly was Tensa and why hadn’t Ichigo ever mentioned him before?  He needed to get into Ichigo’s room, he needed to see him.  He looked up into the kind face of Ichigo’s grandfather, “Can I see him?”

“They are not allowing visitors yet, but Retsu is taking care of that as we speak.  Come with me, let us go and wait for her by Ichigo’s room.  I will allow you to see him first.”  He reached his hand out to the distraught man and helped him to his feet.  They walked down the hallway toward the sound of Retsu‘s soft voice, rounding the corner they stopped and almost laughed.  Retsu was talking to a large man in a suit; she had drawn herself up to her full 5’ 2” height and managed to appear to tower over the 6’ man.  Grimmjow stared at the scene taken aback at the promise of pain she radiated.  Yamamoto laughed under his breath and smiled at Grimmjow, “She can be one of the nicest people in the world or the scariest if you cross her.”

Retsu smiled sweetly at the man and turned to see her boss and the blue haired man watching her, she thanked the man she had been talking to and walked over the other two.  “Yamamoto-sama, Ichigo may have family visit him.  When he wakes up the others may see him, I did not tell them who was family and who wasn’t though.  I am needed by my friend now, Yachiru is taking this very hard and Kenpachi isn’t capable of dealing with her.”  She bowed her head to the old man and glided away.

Grimmjow just stared after the woman, glad he was on her good side.  Yamamoto placed his hand on Grimmjow’s arm and guided him to the door to Ichigo’s room.  “Come let us see to Ichigo before Isshin gets here and causes a scene.”

Grimmjow entered the room and his eyes were immediately drawn to the figure lying in the bed.  Ichigo didn’t look right, the tubes and wires coming from his body seemed wrong.  Yamamoto stepped up to Ichigo’s side leaning over and whispering in his ear, he straightened up and moved toward the door again.  Looking back over his shoulder he said, “Go be with him, I will stand guard at the door so you are not disturbed.”  Then Grimmjow was alone with the unconscious man, he moved a chair to his bedside and sat down.  Reaching out he took Ichigo’s hand, holding it tight as he stared at the almost peaceful face.  Grimmjow had spent enough time watching the red head sleep that he knew that Ichigo’s face was not relaxed; barely noticeable muscle twitches could be seen indicating something happening to Ichigo in his mind.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

“Why am I still here?”

_I don’t know, King but I wish you would leave already.  Your pacing is getting on my nerves._

_ Ichigo, calm down.  You will be able to leave soon.  You first need to understand what happened; otherwise you will not be able to move on.  Your soul will sustain more damage and I will get stronger. _

_King, he was scary as hell, listen to him._

“Fine explain away, what happened that has me trapped in my own mind?  The last thing I remember was asking Shiro for help, then there was pain, and I think I was kissed by the Devil.”

_ You remember more this time.  I have to say I find it amusing to be referred to as the Devil. _

“What are you talking about?  That was you?”

_ Yes and no, that was Tensa Zangetsu.  You created Tensa the day your mother died, as you have grown and matured Tensa has as well.  I am the emotionally evolved form of Tensa.  Tensa is still in me and will always come forward when you need him most.  Last night you needed him, and he nearly destroyed the man who was trying to kill you.  When you are released from this world, you must learn to harness all of the repressed emotions you have.  To allow them to continue to fester will destroy you in the end.  Tensa will grow stronger and no good can come of that end. _

_King, look around you.  Have you seen the changes?  Do you remember the truth you finally admitted?_

“I see that my world is no longer glass and concrete, I noticed the jungles.  I remember, Grimmjow.  I need to go back to him; I cannot stand the thought of causing him pain.  I love him with all my heart and I will become stronger, I will conquer all of my demons, and I will do it for those I hold dear.  I will survive for Grimmjow.”

**_ I am holding you to that, Ichigo.  Next time I am required to assume control because you are too weak, I will not be so nice.  I will destroy your world and make it my own. _ **

Ichigo looked up at the young man, who once again stood before him, “You must be Tensa.  You need not worry about me; I will take your power and make it my own.”  Tensa stared into Ichigo’s eyes and nodded, his image fading back to the middle-aged Zangetsu.  Ichigo began to say something but was cut off by a large black mass slamming into him. 

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow leaned in close to watch the subtle play of emotion across Ichigo’s face.  Pressing a soft kiss to his cheek he whispered, “Come back to me.  I need you.”

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

The panther’s eyes locked onto Ichigo’s and a low rumbling purr began in its chest, Ichigo listened to the soothing sound for a moment before he heard Grimmjow’s voice buried in the rumbling sound.  “Come back to me. I need you.”

Ichigo cocked his head to the side and regarded the cat in wonder, “You are the representation of Grimmjow in my soul, aren’t you?  You are the part of him that lives in my heart?”  The cat smiled and licked Ichigo’s face.  Stretching the cat moved off gracefully back to its perch at the edge of the trees.  Ichigo smiled at the three that represented the madness of his mind and the world around him began to fade.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow had his head down on the edge of the bed, Ichigo’s hand still grasped firmly in his.  “I must be dreaming, I swear I heard Ichigo calling me.”  Grimmjow thought to himself.  Closing his eyes again he began to settle back in again, Isshin had just left to go talk to the doctor.  The hand he was holding began to twitch, causing Grimmjow to look up.  Bright honey brown eyes met cyan blue and Grimmjow felt his breath catch as Ichigo reached over with his free hand to caress the side of his face.

“Grimmjow.”  Ichigo sighed.  His eyes drifting closed again.  Grimmjow squeezed Ichigo’s hand, letting out a sigh of relief. 

Grimmjow tried to get up to go tell Isshin and Yamamoto that he had woken up but Ichigo wouldn’t let go of his hand.  Grinning, Grimmjow reached for his phone, the least he could do is send a text.  As he opened his phone to dial Isshin’s number the door opened Isshin and the tall dark skinned man from earlier entered.

“See Kaname, he’s still out,” said Isshin, looking sadly at his son still on the bed.  Tousen shifted his stance getting ready to speak but Grimmjow cut him off.

“Isshin, I was getting ready to call you, he woke up a minute ago.  I think he is only sleeping now.”

“I told you I heard him, why do you still continue to doubt me?  I can hear a pin drop three blocks away.”

Grimmjow watched the two men argue for a few moments more before his attention was snapped back to Ichigo.  Ichigo’s eyes were open again and he was squeezing Grimmjow’s hand.  Grimmjow cleared his throat getting Isshin’s attention and moving to guard his injured lover from Isshin’s overly enthusiastic affections.  “ICHIGO! MY SON!”  Isshin took one step toward his son and was immediately stopped by Kaname.  The blind man tossed Isshin into a chair and moved to the bed.  “Ichigo, I am pleased that you are well.  I feared the worst when I was summoned to help find you.  It makes me proud to see you rendered my services unnecessary.”

Ichigo looked up at the strange man and cracked a smile, “Uncle Kaname, it’s been too long.  I wish it were under better circumstances.  I hope you will stay for a bit this time.”

“I will stay until I need to move on.”

Ichigo laughed at this and turned back to Grimmjow, smiling at the man he loved, “Be hear when I wake up?”

“Where else would I be?”

“Keep Goat-face away from me.”  Ichigo mumbled as he slipped back into a peaceful sleep.

 


	23. Chapter 23

 

Ichigo was released from the hospital the next morning, his wounds were painful but not life threatening and he had cleared his psychological exam.  The police were waiting for him at the hotel when they walked in, Yamamoto took the lead and spoke to them while Grimmjow and Isshin took Ichigo back to their room and got him settled.  An hour later there was a knock on the door and Grimmjow opened the door to find a large red headed police officer.

“I am sorry to intrude but I need to speak to Kurosaki Ichigo about the incident with Antenor Luppi.”

Grimmjow sneered at the man, but Ichigo’s voice stopped the snide remark ready to spill forth. “It’s ok, Grimm.   Let him in.”  Grimmjow stepped away from the door and returned to Ichigo’s side.

The office followed him into the room stopping at the foot of the bed, “My name is officer Go Koga, I have statements from the people that found you last night, but I would like to hear your side of the story.  What exactly took place in room 815 with Antenor Luppi?  How did you come by your injuries and how did he sustain such massive damage to his person?”

“I was being followed by Luppi, at least since I arrived here.  He was obsessed with his ex who is now my lover, Grimmjow.  Yesterday I had a meeting with my kyoukan and when I left his room I was ambushed in the hallway.  Luppi injected me with something and I blacked out, when I came to I was in his hotel room.  I tried several times to escape but he had a sword, the second time I tried to get to the door he stabbed me in the side.  I sorta blacked out at that point, I really only remember the pain and the intense desire to live.  The next thing I know I’m waking up in the hospital, sore and missing a chunk of time.  The doctor said that it’s not uncommon for trauma victims to develop amnesia for the time the trauma occurred.”

“I see, if Mr. Antenor wakes up we will get his side of the story as well, however between the security video, the restraining order violations, past complaints, and his extensive psychiatric file I don’t see this coming back on you in anyway.  If you remember anything else please call me.”  He handed Ichigo his card and left.

“Fuck, that little bastard survived?” growled Grimmjow.

“I wasn’t sure, after the second throw he wasn’t moving.”

“Shit, you do remember.  I have a few questions about what happened.  The biggest one is who is Tensa Zangetsu?  And why haven’t you mentioned him before?”

Ichigo sighed, patting the bed next to him he waited for Grimmjow to get comfortable before he tried to explain.  “Well it seems that one of my split personalities has a split personality.  According to what Zangetsu told me, when mom was killed it was Tensa that was created.  Tensa is violent and when I first saw him I thought I was looking at Satan himself.  Zangetsu is what Tensa evolved into as I grew and matured, but Tensa still lives in there.  I truly believe if you all had not shown up when you did, he would have killed Luppi and loved every painful second of it.”

Grimmjow looked at Ichigo with wonder; he couldn’t imagine what it felt like to have to live with all the odd tenants in his head.  Ichigo smiled and took a deep breath, “Plus the lovely sideways city in my mind has undergone some emotional redecorating as well.”

“What do you mean?  You told me before that Shiro told you that your world changes with your emotions.  So what’s the big deal?”

“This time it was a major remodel, not just little things here and there.  I had to stop lying to myself and admit something that scares the shit out of me.  My inner world was crumbling, because I had closed myself off for so long, I was falling apart on the inside.  Almost like I was tearing out my heart, becoming an emotionless shell.”

“What did you have to admit?  What kind of remodel?”

Ichigo smirked; he shifted so he was leaning into Grimmjow, his head resting on his lover’s chest.  Ichigo closed his eyes and listened to steady thump of Grimmjow’s heart, letting it sooth him as he tried to gather the courage to tell him the truth of what was in his heart.  Ichigo smiled as he thought of the panther that now resided in his soul, he could almost hear it purring giving him its strength.  Grimmjow hooked his finger under Ichigo’s chin pulling his head so he was forced to look into those deep blue pools that were so full of concern and worry.  Ichigo leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on those perfect lips, thinking that he would do anything to take that look out of those eyes and keep it from ever returning.

“If you don’t want to tell me, I won’t force you to.  I just want you to be ok, healthy and happy.”  Grimmjow said, ‘with me’ he added silently.

“I am happy, as for healthy...Well I’m getting there,” Ichigo laughed, “and it’s all because of you.”  Grimmjow’s eyes got wide as he listened to Ichigo’s softly spoken admission.  “My inner world now looks like someone decided to ‘go green’ in my head.  The city is still there, still on its side, but now there are vast sections covered in jungle and there are rivers the same color as your eyes that flow between the buildings.  There is also a new inhabitant that has taken up residence, he lives in the dense greenery, and watches from his perch atop a mound of broken mortar and concrete created when he made his home in my heart.”

“Let me get this straight, you have another person in there?  So that makes, what, four plus you?  Is there any room left in there?”

“Shut up you ass,” Ichigo huffed, slapping Grimmjow’s chest, “do you want me to tell you this or not?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m sorry keep going.”  Grimmjow said nuzzling his cheek Ichigo’s hair.  Ichigo smiled at the almost cat-like action.

“Well the jungle and its occupant represent that which I could no longer deny; I finally stopped lying to myself.  The jungle is home to a panther, his fur is so black it shines blue, his eyes are cyan, and his very presence gives me strength and warmth.  He appeared when I dropped my guard and allowed myself to admit that I am completely and hopelessly in love with you Grimmjow.”


	24. Chapter 24

Grimmjow looked down at the orange hair nestled against his chest, his breath caught in his throat.  His eyes wide in shock, wondering if he heard the softly spoken words correctly.  Had Ichigo just confessed his love for him?  A shaky breath rushed out of his lungs as he pulled the smaller man up to look into his eyes, searching for the truth in their depths, needing to see the truth reflected there.  Honey brown pools locked with darkening cyan blue, emotions chasing through them.  Grimmjow saw uncertainty, admiration, tenderness, passion, unconditional love, and soul wrenching fear.  Grimmjow found all he needed to know, the undeniable truth of Ichigo’s words and the crushing fear of being rejected. 

“Ichigo,” Grimmjow whispered, “Say it.”

“I love you,” the words so soft Grimmjow almost didn’t hear them.

“Ichi,” Grimmjow pulled Ichigo into his lap, wrapping his arms around the perfect body, careful not to press against the wound in his side.  Ichigo stared at the man he loved, watching a genuine smile play across his face.  Grimmjow realized in that instant that he truly loved this imperfect man, with every fiber of his being.  “Gods, Ichi.  I love you too.  I thought I was going to die when I thought that I might lose you.  I need you by my side, I don’t know when it happened but you have become a part of me that I can’t live without.”

Ichigo let out sigh, releasing the breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding.  He smiled and leaned in slowly, never taking his eyes off of Grimmjow’s.  When their lips met a currant passed between the two, unlike any feeling they had experienced before.  Ichigo’s lips were gentle, softly moving against Grimmjow’s, his hands ghosting up his body to tangle in vibrant blue locks.  Grimmjow moaned as Ichigo’s finger tips massaged his scalp, his body pressed firmly against him, and his lips caressing his, giving no indication of deepening the kiss.

Ichigo felt Grimmjow’s moan reverberate through his body, igniting a sea of flames that threatened to raze him.  He suddenly needed more; pressing hard against his lover’s body he forced his tongue into Grimmjow’s mouth, deepening their kiss.  The fingers that had been gently slipping through the blue strands tightened their grip, tangling and pulling harshly.  Grimmjow growled at the mixture of pleasure and pain, his hands moved to grip the narrow hips in a bruising grip.  Ichigo’s desire was raging out of control, his head was swimming and the room was spinning.  Ichigo couldn’t bear the thought of breaking the kiss even though the need for air seared his lungs.  Grimmjow wrenched his mouth away from the demanding lips, both of them gulping down air before sealing their lips again.  Ichigo was being overwhelmed by the need that was consuming him, he was drowning and he welcomed death as long as he could continue to feel like this. 

Grimmjow moved his lips to Ichigo’s jaw, dropping feather light kisses along the bone.  Moving slowly to Ichigo’s ear, he whispered softly, “I love you, and I will never ever let you go.”  Running his tongue along the shell he felt Ichigo shutter, smirking he buried his face into the hollow behind his ear.  Ichigo moaned, the fire burning in his veins becoming a raging inferno.  All logical thought left him, his body being controlled by instinct and need.  His hands moving to pull at the appalling shirt that kept him from the smooth hard skin of his lover’s body, needing to see him, touch him, and taste him.  Grimmjow pulled away to allow Ichigo to remove his shirt, shifting to remove the smaller mans shirt as well.  Ichigo leaned in pressing bare flesh together, electricity racing along the connected skin, causing Ichigo to gasp.  

That small gasp caused Grimmjow’s shaky control to snap, he growled deep and low, and Ichigo suddenly found himself on his back looking into eyes almost midnight blue with lust.  Ichigo slid his hands up the taunt back muscles, reveling in the feel of them bunching under his touch.  One hand grasped the side of Grimmjow’s neck the other sinking into blue hair to tug hard again, “Grimmjow.”  Ichigo growled his name as he hooked the bigger mans leg, flipping their positions before Grimmjow had a chance to react to the sudden shift of his lover’s body.  Ichigo slowly moved down Grimmjow’s body, fingers and mouth mapping every dip and plain of his defined chest and chiseled abs.  Grimmjow moaned and writhed under the assault, his body overriding his mind as Ichigo’s hands began to work the knotted drawstring of his pants.  Grimmjow thought to himself, “I still don’t know how I gave up being seme, but as long as it’s Ichigo I don’t mind.”  Ichigo ripped Grimmjow from his thoughts as his mouth closed over the pulsing head of his aching cock.  After a few hard sucks Ichigo released his member and began moving his way back up the heaving body under him.  It was torture-delicious torture, as Ichigo moved over him. 

“Your killing me!”  Grimmjow gasped out.

“I know, and you love every second of it.” Smirked Ichigo.

“Ichigo,” he groaned shaking from head to toe with desire.  Ichigo knew damn well what he was doing and he did it oh so well.

Ichigo crawled slowly up his lover’s body, touching and tasting every inch of him.  When his lips finally reached Grimmjow’s ear, Ichigo shifted his position again.  Moving to straddle his lover’s hips, he bent low, lips brushing the sensitive skin of his ear, his voice low and husky, “Take me.”  He demanded as he wrapped his body around Grimmjow’s trembling form, waiting for the words to penetrate his lust hazed brain.

Grimmjow stiffened when the words finally sank in and he gazed into Ichigo’s eyes for what seemed to be hours and seconds all at once.  Ichigo watched as Grimmjow’s face spread into a feral grin that caused Ichigo’s breath to hitch.  The look of a predator that finally caught his prey that shined from those blue eyes should have scared Ichigo but he found he was turned on immensely by it.  The deep harsh sound that emanated from Grimmjow caused Ichigo to shudder in anticipation.  Grimmjow reversed their positions pinning the smaller man to the mattress, his teeth sinking into the rapidly fluttering pulse point until I he tasted blood.  Ichigo groaned at the feeling, the pain only heightening the pleasure.  Ichigo couldn’t remember ever being such a masochist before, but the feeling was so exhilarating he reveled in it.  When Grimmjow’s lips found his again he moaned loudly at the coppery taste as he licked his own blood from his lover’s lips.  So caught up in the pleasure and taste that he barely registered as Grimmjow slipped one slicked finger into his entrance.   Ichigo spread his legs open wider allowing Grimmjow better access as a second finger joined the first moving in and out of him at an agonizingly slow pace.

“Gah, Grimm, please…” Ichigo panted and was rewarded by a third finger being pushed roughly in, and the pace increasing as he was spread and stretched forcefully.  Ichigo screamed out hoarsely as his prostate was brushed against, his sight obscured by an explosion of color as his chest heaved trying to regain his breath, his body pushing back against the wicked fingers slamming into him.  Grimmjow couldn’t wait any longer, pulling his fingers out, smirking at the whine that escaped Ichigo.  Ichigo opened his mouth to complain at the abrupt emptiness but before he could get out a sound he suddenly felt the blunt tip of Grimmjow’s weeping member pushing into him.

Grimmjow quickly lubed his throbbing length and not giving Ichigo any warming pushed into his tight hot body.  “Oh gods, he’s so tight.  I didn’t think he’d feel like this.”  Grimmjow thought to himself as he pushed in until he was seated to the hilt in Ichigo’s perfect ass.  He held himself still allowing Ichigo a moment to adjust, fighting the need to move.  Ichigo shifted his hips allowing Grimmjow to sink further in, pulling moans from both men.  Grimmjow looked into Ichigo’s eyes and seeing no trace of pain there he slowly pulled back until just the tip remained inside, bringing their lips together in a heated kiss he snapped his hips forward.  Ichigo’s hips rose to meet each thrust, his legs wrapped tightly around Grimmjow’s waist, blunt nails leaving bloody trails as they raked across sweat slicked shoulder blades.  Ichigo lost the ability to string together any coherent thoughts, moaned cries of harder and faster the only thoughts to make it past his lips.  Grimmjow’s pace was almost brutal, primitive instincts taking over, animalist snarls and growls the only sounds he was capable of.  He felt the walls wrapped around him start to spasm and knew his lover was getting close, he reached in between their bodies and grasped Ichigo’s neglected member, instead of pumping he held it firmly using the movement of Ichigo’s body as he pounded him into the mattress to create the friction his lover was craving to find release. 

Ichigo was in heaven, he had never felt anything like this before.  His body responding to every demand of Grimmjow’s without the need for words.  Wave after wave of ecstasy crashed over him, pushing him closer to the edge, but he was kept at the edge not able to find his release.  He knew somewhere in his mind that he was holding on, not wanting to plummet over that edge until his lover was right there with him.  His almost lost it when Grimmjow’s hand wrapped around is cock, the increased friction almost too much to bear.  He fought his way to voice one coherent thought, “Grimm, please, I want you to cum for me.”  Grimmjow’s hand tightened around him and his thrusts became harder and more erratic.  Ichigo cried out as his prostate was assaulted relentlessly, his body becoming over sensitized, each brush of skin on skin, the feel of the sheets below him, the air around him causing lightening to dance along his nerves.  He couldn’t hold out any longer, his body stiffened and bowed almost in half with the force of his release.  “GRIMMJOW!” the hoarse cry was ripped from his throat as his inner muscles clamped down on Grimmjow’s thrusting member.

Grimmjow felt his lover lock down on him as he came, pulling his own violent release from him suddenly.  With a final hard thrust he filled his lover with his seed, growling Ichigo’s name.  Grimmjow collapsed on top of Ichigo as they struggled to regain their sanity, breaths coming in ragged gasping pants.  Grimmjow finally gained some control over his body he slowly pulled out and rolled off of Ichigo’s exhausted body.  Pulling him close he wrapped his arms around his trim waist and they drifted into a contented sleep.

 


	25. Chapter 25

Ichigo grumbled, the loud banging on the door pulling him from sleep.  As he cracked open his eyes he wondered where Grimmjow was, rolling off the bed he heard the shower running and smirked.  Moving stiffly he pulled on his sweatpants and opened the door.  The same officer from yesterday stood there looking at Ichigo with a scowl.  Ichigo raised an eyebrow and stepped aside allowing the officer to enter the room.

“I need to know where you were last night.”  Koga demanded.  Ichigo looked at him in confusion, wondering what in the world was going on.  He registered the shower turning off and moved closer to the bathroom door.

“Hey Grimm, we have company.  Make sure you don’t walk out naked.”  Ichigo called, turning back to Koga he finally spoke to the man. “I need coffee if you want me to be coherent for this, give me a minute.”  Ichigo walked to the table in the corner and set the coffee pot to brew.  While he was busy doing this Grimmjow came out of the bathroom drying his hair.  When he saw Koga his face transformed into a scowl.

“What the hell do you want?” he growled at the officer.

“I am here to question both you and Kurosaki, there was an incident last night and I need to know your whereabouts.”

Grimmjow scoffed and turned to grab his and Ichigo’s phones from the night stand.  “Before we even consider having this conversation, we need to contact our employers.  We won’t talk to you unless they say it’s ok and are present.”  Grimmjow lifted his phone to his ear and waited for Aizen to answer.  After a brief conversation Grimmjow hung up his phone and walked over to Ichigo who was drinking a cup of coffee pointedly ignoring the large redheaded man.  “Here Ichi, call Urahara, Aizen is on his way up already.”

Ichigo took his phone and dialed, “Kisuke, get your ass up here, that cop is here asking us to account for our whereabouts last night.”  The phone line went dead and Ichigo tossed it on the table, “He’s coming, probably bringing dad and Ojiisan as well.”  Ichigo pulled out a chair and looked at Koga, “You might as well sit down, your gonna be here for awhile.”  Koga took the offered chair and watched as Grimmjow answered the knock at the door.  Aizen and Gin entered the room, the air of menace radiating from the brown haired man was thick causing Koga to swallow, visibly unnerved by the man. 

“Ichigo, yah cawled Kisuke, nee?”  Gin asked calmly.  Ichigo nodded and Gin moved back to the door to answer the next knock.  Kisuke, Isshin, Byakuya, and Yamamoto entered the room greeting Aizen and Gin.  “If yah can hold a minute, I’ll grab the chairs from the other rooms and we can figure this out.”  Gin slipped from the room followed by Grimmjow and returned quickly with chairs for the group to sit in.

“Now, officer Go, what may I ask is this about?  Yesterday we told you everything we knew, even allowed you to speak to Ichigo without us there.  Why do the boys need to account for their whereabouts last night?”  Aizen asked, his voice was soft and pleasant, a stark contrast to the hard anger in his eyes.

“Last night someone entered Antenor Luppi’s room at the hospital without anyone noticing and murdered the young man.  Given the situation and the level of training your boys have, they are at the top of the suspect list.  So I need to know where they were last night.”

“You think that my son killed his attacker?  In the hospital of all places.  If Ichigo was going to kill the man he would have done it in the fight for his life not after the fact.”  Isshin growled his usual idiotic persona nowhere to be seen.

Ichigo looked up from his coffee and snorted, “You really are an idiot, there is no way either I or Grimmjow could get in and out of the hospital without being noticed.  In case you haven’t noticed with our hair we stick out.  However if you must know, we were here all night.  I’m sure that most of the floor will tell you that they heard our, um, activities almost all night.”

The group just looked at Ichigo various looks of amusement and shock.  Koga looked thoughtful for a moment and considered what the orange haired man had said.  Admittedly he could imagine that either of the two could go anywhere without being noticed for their unusual hair color.  He, however, did not really want to question the other guests concerning the noise level of the couple’s activities.  Sighing he looked at the old man and recoiled a little at the aura surrounding him, he had remained silent during the entire exchange, observing everything.  The old man stood up and let a small glimmer of a smile form on his lips, turning to Koga he finally spoke, “Officer Go, I assume that we are finished here?  As you can see these boys are not responsible for the crime you are accusing them of.  I can personally vouch for the, ahem, vocal evidence of their presence last night, my room is directly above theirs.  In the future if you have any questions for either of these two you will direct them through the legal department of Soul Society Inc.  specifically Ishida Ryuuken.  Now allow me to show you to the door.”

Koga stood and moved to the door, the old man brooked no argument.  He bowed to the assembled and took his leave.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

_The previous night_

_Luppi awoke to an annoying beeping sound, his mind was fuzzy and sluggish.  He tried to move but found his body unable to respond; only his eyes would move.  Looking to the side he noticed the beeping was coming from monitors next to the bed he was laying in.  He groaned as the memories of the day started to filter back into his mind, “That orange haired boy, what is he?  I swear his eyes kept changing color and what was with that laugh and telling me that Ichigo wasn’t there?  Shit he could have killed me; I would rather face Nnoitra than him again.”  A shifting of the shadows in the far corner caught his attention, “Who’s there?”  He croaked, his voice was cracked and broken._

_A dark skinned man with long braids and black glasses stepped forward; his movements were silent as he approached the bed.  Luppi swallowed and eyed the opposing figure.  The beeping from the heart monitor sped up as Luppi’s heart began to race, he was afraid of this man-absolutely terrified.  The man stopped and began to speak, “You have transgressed against a true innocent.  Kurosaki Ichigo is your undoing.  I will have justice for the harm you caused my godson.”_

_“W-w-what do you mean?  What kind of justice?  That boy is no innocent; he is trying to corrupt my Grimmjow with his perverse ways.”  The look on Tousen’s face told Luppi he has said the wrong thing.  “I-I was only trying to protect my love, surely you can see that.”_

_“My eye’s see only the path with less bloodshed, the path to justice and protection of the innocent.  Your path is not the one that these blind eyes can see.  I am here to see that justice is served and the guilty are punished.  I am here to send you to the next life, may your decent through hell enlighten you to the error of your ways.”_

_Luppi opened his mouth to scream but could not, his heart had already stopped, his lungs no longer pulled in air, his eyes went wide as his world faded one final time to black.  A small trickle of blood ran from his ear as the long thin blade was withdrawn.  Tousen melted back into the shadows, no one ever knowing he was ever there._

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Ichigo had been withdrawn from the competition due to his injuries, Kisuke was afraid that he would tear his stitches if he fought.  He spent his free time watching his friends compete and practicing for the demonstration he was still giving at the end of the week. 

Grimmjow sat watching Ichigo move across the floor wielding the large two handed sword.  His movements looked like a dance, his partner graceful death in his experienced hands.  He was so mesmerized by the man in front of him that he didn’t notice the silent man that appeared next to him.

“He has improved greatly,” Kaname stated quietly causing Grimmjow to jump.  Rising to his feet he greeted the man never taking his eyes off of Ichigo.

“Hello Tousen, I am surprised to see that you are still here.  I have heard about you from my fathers, and I can only assume that we have you to thank for the outcome of the whole Luppi situation.”

“I am afraid that I do not know what you are speaking of, I follow the path with the least amount of blood.  I am here to support my godson, nothing more nothing less.  I am friends with your fathers, have been for many years, what they know about me is all true.  I trust that now that you are a part of Ichigo’s family, you will look upon me as an uncle as well.”

“You are a strange man, had anyone ever told you that?  I am one of the few that Aizen trusted with your information.  In case of an emergency he said.  So Ichigo is your godson?  I would be honored to call you Uncle, if you so please.”

“You would do well to heed Aizen’s warnings about me; I am not one to be crossed.  Love him well and treat him right or you will answer to me.  I can see that Ichigo loves you, you have managed to get him to allow himself to love again, and for that you are in our debt.  For that you are in our family and under my protection as well.  I always know, you cannot hide anything from me.”

“Uncle Kaname!  What are you doing here?  Stop threatening Grimmjow, he’s a good man.”  Ichigo called walking up to the duo.

“Ah, Ichigo, I came to observe your practice, you are dragging your right foot when you should be gliding on it.”  Grimmjow raised his eyebrow, wondering how a blind man could see so much.  “I also have a gift for you; Isshin should be here in a moment with it.”

As the three sat and talked waiting for Isshin, Grimmjow couldn’t help but notice how at ease he felt, his heart felt light.  Isshin and Aizen entered the room joining the small group.  Isshin carried a large box in his arms and a katana at his waist.

“Kaname, sorry for the wait, the officials were giving us a hard time.”

“That is alright, I was not worried.  Now Ichigo, I had this made for you, I am sure it will serve you well.”  Kaname took the box from Isshin and handed it to Ichigo.  Sitting on the floor to open the large box, Ichigo was surprised to find a very large black sword with a no hilt.  Removing it from the box Ichigo stood to inspect the oversized weapon.  The sheath was white and appeared to have a white ribbon wrapped around it, pulling the sword free the ribbon fell away from the casing.  The sword was as tall as Ichigo, it’s blade as black as night, the ribbon wrapped around the tang, there was no hilt or guard.  This sword was unique and amazing, it vaguely resembled the uchigatana he normally used, but had many characteristics of a berserker blade as well, its balance was perfect.  Ichigo stepped away and took several swings to test it out; the blade felt like it was a natural extension of himself.  No other sword he had ever touched felt this right.

“This is perfect, Uncle Kaname.  How did you come up with this design?  I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“I designed this sword when you were 10 years old.  It was after I first saw you training with Kisuke, the sword spoke to me in a dream.  You are now capable of mastering a blade such as this, so I had it forged.”

“Ichigo, let’s see how well you can handle that monster, I brought Engetsu so we can have a quick spar.”  Isshin said, grinning like a mad man.

“Let’s go old man; I’ll kick your ass!”

Father and son moved to the center of the room and circled each other, Isshin’s experience against Ichigo’s natural talent.  Grimmjow sat down to watch what he was sure to be an incredible fight.

Ichigo launched at his father, sweeping in from the side, Isshin brought his sword up and blocked the blow sliding back several feet from the force of the impact.  The two continued to exchange blow after blow, dancing across the floor in an exquisite display of skill and grace.  After an hour of high energy sparring they were both panting and soaked through with sweat.  Bowing to each other they rejoined their friends.

“Isshin, you have not lost a step in all this time.  Your son will soon surpass you though, his skills are impressive.  Ichigo tell me who was your sword master?”  Aizen inquired.

“Uncle Kaname was my first sensei, he began teaching me when I was five, when I turned 10 ojiisan took over my training.  I have also trained with Byakuya, Kenpachi, and Soifon.”

“You have been instructed by the best, I am highly impressed with your abilities.  I am sorry that I am not able to see you complete the rest of the tournament though.  Your first match was intriguing.  Perhaps you would consider sparring with me when we get home.”

“I would enjoy that, Aizen-san.  After Orihime clears me to fight again we will arrange something.”

The group made plans to meet again for dinner and parted ways to get cleaned up.  Ichigo and Grimmjow walked back to their room, the other guests giving the two a wide berth.  They laughed to themselves thinking about the sight they made, two young men with outlandish hair color stalking through the halls of an upscale hotel carrying two very large swords.  They figured that the police would be back again to talk to them soon.


	26. Chapter 26

“I think they are trying to kill each other,” Ichigo commented with a cringe, receiving an amused snort in response from his blue haired lover.

It was the last day of the competition; the final match was taking place.  The arena was packed; everyone had come to watch the epic battle between the two most blood thirsty and psychotic competitors, Zaraki Kenpachi and Gilga Nnoitra.  Shinji sat on Ichigo’s other side, his face buried in Ichigo’s shoulder unable to watch.

“Shin, I don’t think Nnoi is gonna win this one,” Ichigo claimed.

“Don’t underestimate my brother, Ichi.  He’s not pulling any punches this round,” Grimmjow said slightly annoyed at Ichigo’s opinion.

“I know, Grimm.  That’s why I said I don’t think he’s gonna win.  Shin, take a look and let me know what you think,” Ichigo watched Shinji look up and saw his face fall.

“Yeah, you’re right Ichi,” Shinji sighed.

Grimmjow looked at the two in disbelief, he growled demanding, “How do you figure?”

Ichigo looked at Grimmjow and gave a small smile, “Nnoi is fighting all out, holding nothing back,” Grimmjow nodded, “Okay, so here’s the deal, Kenny IS holding back.”  Grimmjow’s eyebrows shot up and he turned his attention back to the fight, watching closely.

“How can you tell, Ichi?”  Grimmjow asked.

As Ichigo opened his mouth to answer he was cut off by a small pink whirlwind landing in his lap.  “Ichi knows because he’s Kenny’s best friend!” Yachiru cried excitedly.  “Kenny has the most fun when Ichi plays with him.”

Grimmjow looked at the small girl curiously as she bounced on Ichigo’s lap, never taking her eyes off of her father.  Ichigo laughed at the bundle of energy as she continued talking to the bluenette.

“Kenny never fights at full strength; he says if he does the fight ends too soon.  Your brother is pretty good, Kenny isn’t holding back as much with him,” Yachiru giggled, “but Kenny has only ever lost to one person, the only person Kenny can fight without holding back.”

“Who would that be?” Grimmjow asked when the girl didn’t continue.  He didn’t notice Ichigo blanch at the direction of their conversation.

“Ichi!” cried Yachiru, “That’s why Ichi is Kenny’s best friend!  Right Berry-chan?”  Grimmjow looked at his lover in shock; he had fought and beaten that nut case?

“I only fought him once, I think it was a tie but ojiisan said I won because I stayed conscious ten seconds longer than him.  Ever since he chases me around trying to get a rematch, I value my life though so I avoid him as much as possible.  I’ll spar with him in school because he has severe restrictions there.”

“Ooh, Kenny’s getting mad,” Yachiru squealed.

Ichigo focused on the two men again.  Nnoitra caught Kenpachi with a straight leg kick to the solar plexus, leaving the larger man stunned for a split second.  Using that brief opening Nnoitra swept his opponents legs out from under him.  Nnoitra grin grew almost splitting his face in two, thinking he had finally gained the upper hand over the larger man he was fighting.

“Shit, Nnoi’s in trouble,” Ichigo said softly.

“Huh?” Grimmjow questioned, “Are we watching the same match?”

“Yup.  You are about to see why Zaraki Kenpachi is also called The Demon of Squad Eleven.”

Grimmjow’s retort was silenced by the sound of the most deranged laughter he had ever heard.  His eyes quickly refocused on the man lying on the floor that the frightening sound was emanating from.  Nnoitra’s grin faltered as his opponent began laughing, his visible eye growing wider as the volume increased.  Kenpachi jumped to his feet and darted toward Nnoitra, too fast for Nnoitra to dodge.  Nnoitra didn’t see the sudden change in direction, the older man was in front of him one second, and the next Nnoitra barely registered the sound of Kenpachi’s bells before a blow was landed high on Nnoitra’s neck from behind.  Kenpachi didn’t let up on his assault, by the time Nnoitra’s body hit the ground Kenpachi’s blows had already cracked six ribs, dislocated his shoulder, and landed at least a dozen other minor hits on the lanky teen.

Shinji groaned jumping up to rush to his lover’s side as Grimmjow looked on in stunned silence.  Yachiru hugged Ichigo and jumped over the audience to land on Kenpachi’s shoulder, smiling and laughing as she congratulated her father.

“Come on Grimm, my demo is coming up soon.  Let’s head up to the room so I can change and grab my sword.”  Ichigo said laying his hand on Grimmjow’s shoulder, “let’s check on Nnoi first though.”

Grimmjow nodded getting to his feet and followed, making their way down to where Nnoitra was being examined by Szayel.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Half an hour later Ichigo and Grimmjow were back in their hotel room.  Grimmjow sat on the bed watching Ichigo change into a traditional looking outfit.  Ichigo stood before him wearing black hakama and sleeveless kimono, a blood red haori with a large white kanji for fifteen on the back also had the sleeves removed, a red sword belt looped over his shoulder, and traditional waraji and tabi.

“You look hot, but what’s wit the getup?”

“Getabouchi’s idea.  It’s a variation of the shihakushou that the samurai of legend wore.  You haven’t seen the best part yet,” Ichigo said walking to a box on the table, with his back toward his partner he opened the box fiddling with its contents.  Turning around he wore a smooth white shikami mask that covered his entire face.  Four red lines slashed over the left eye from the bridge of the nose to the temple, two more under the same eye extended across the cheek, and three more adorned the left side of the chin meeting under the pointed teeth carved into the mask.

“Wow, I don’t know what to say,” Grimmjow said admiring the full effect of the demonic attire as Ichigo situated the large sword on his back. “Let’s get going, keep everything on though.  I wanna see how many people run from you on the way down!”

Ichigo laughed but pulled off the mask, “Sorry babe can’t.  I have orders not to wear the mask in public outside of the arena.”

“Fine.”  Grimmjow pouted.

XOXOXOXOXOX

“Ichigo!  I have just been asked if you will be going on as yourself or under another name.  Also what the name of your sword is,” Kisuke tittered in his sing song voice, “since you are following along the traditional lines with this exhibition.  Traditionally warriors named their weapons and used false names and masks to protect their loved ones from their enemies.”

_“King, you have the names already.”_

“What ever, Kisuke.  I guess you can call me Shiro and my sword will be Zangetsu.  In honor of my voices.”

Kisuke laughed, nodding his approval.  He walked off to give the information to the announcers.

“Our next demonstration is a special one; we have one of the few masters of the uchigatana.  He is definitely the youngest.  Please welcome Shiro and his blade Zangetsu.”

Ichigo took a deep breath as the music began to play, (I hear voices in my head, they council me) he settled the mask over his face making sure it was secure (They understand, they talk to me); he made sure Zangetsu was settled properly on his back.

Ichigo moved to the center of the floor almost too fast for the audience to see.  Feeling the music flow through him, he let his body take over, the muscles knowing what to do as he reached up grasping the cloth covered hilt of the sword, pulling it free in a smooth graceful arc.  Ichigo moved across the floor in an erotic display of deadly precision.  By the end of the first verse Ichigo had agreed to let Shiro assist him in his movements.

_“King, just let me show you how to use this blade, it may not be traditional but it is amazing.”_

“You can show one contemporary move; this is supposed to show how to use this weapon traditionally.”

_“Thank you King. I only need a few moments to show the abilities of the unique sword.”_

Ichigo’s eyes began to glow golden as his body shifted into a slightly unfamiliar stance (I hear voices crying), the long blade swung upward, the force behind the swing appearing greater than needed (I see heroes dying), the slender fingers released the blade allowing the trailing ribbon to pass through long fingers for a moment before being caught by the hand (I taste blood that’s drying), the large sword began to rotate in full circles at the end of the ribbon being swung by the teen (I feel tension riding), with a series of quick wrist movements the blade flew forward and snapped back to be caught by the handle, the masked youth moving again into the smooth graceful movements perfected by years of practice.  A few short minutes later Ichigo sheathed Zangetsu and bowed to the stunned crowd before exiting the floor.  Seconds later the arena erupted in applause and cheers.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Ichigo removed his mask once in the staging area, watching as his father and uncle approached him.

“Ichigo, my son!  I couldn’t be prouder!”  Isshin called out rushing to hug his son.  Ichigo scowled as his foot connected with his father’s face.

“You need to calm down goat-face!  I don’t feel like dealing with your idiocy right now!”

“Ichigo, I am most impressed with your skill.  I would not have thought to swing the blade by its tail.”  Kamame said with admiration.

“It was Shiro, not me.” Was all Ichigo said on the mater.  His face split into a huge grin as Grimmjow arrived wrapping his arms around the sweaty teen.

“That was amazing!  I had no idea that you were a master swordsman.”  Grimmjow said kissing Ichigo’s temple.  Ichigo smiled at his lover and shrugged his shoulders.

“There is a lot you don’t know about me,” Ichigo smirked.

“I plan on spending a life time learning.” Grimmjow whispered to his blushing berry.

 


	27. Chapter 27

Ichigo sat on the roof of his house; head tilted back appearing to be gazing at the stars.  In reality he was too deep in thought to notice the world around him.  It had been four months since the national tournament and his life was becoming more and more complicated.  Graduation was fast approaching meaning the work load for is classes had doubled, he felt like he was drowning in homework and study guides.  His position in Hogyoku took up most all of his remaining free time, many nights he found himself passed out in the dojo.  Urahara had moved a spare futon into the room because of the increasing frequency that Ichigo was unable to stay awake long enough to make it out of the basement let alone all the way home.

All of this had led to his current dilemma; his boyfriend was pissed at him.  Grimmjow had tried to be understanding, but he was not a patient man.  He knew that Ichigo had a busier schedule than he himself did, but he hadn’t spent more than a few hours a week with his lover outside of school.  It had been like this since about two weeks after returning home from Yokohama.  At first it wasn’t so bad, they would study together then fall asleep together at the end of the day, now Ichigo was so worn out he hardly made it home anymore.

Grimmjow’s temper was growing shorter and they fought a lot now, almost every time they saw each other.  Ichigo couldn’t help but think about how his current situation was similar to the end of his and Renji’s relationship.  With a deep sigh Ichigo laid down on the roof top as the rain began to fall.  He smirked at how the weather mirrored his emotions.  Whenever he thought about losing his blue haired lover his chest ached and he found it hard to breath.  He loved the infuriating man so much; he was a part of his own soul.  Ichigo knew that he should be over at Grimmjow’s right now, he’d taken the night off at the dojo, but Ichigo was tired, so damn tired.  Lying on the roof in the rain under an ink black sky, Ichigo slipped into a deep sleep, unaware of the stormy blue eyes that were watching him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Ichigo was pulled from his dreamless sleep by the bright sunlight coming over the horizon.  Stretching his stiff body he realized that he had slept all night on the roof and he was soaked to the bone.  Groaning he made his way back through his bedroom window and headed for the shower.  As the hot water relaxed his stiff muscles Ichigo came to a decision, he was going to talk to Grimmjow today and they were going to work this shit out.  He hadn’t gone through all that shit and almost died to give up on them now.  With a new resolve he dressed and left the house to wait for his boyfriend to come out of his house.

Ichigo sat outside on his porch for twenty minutes before he saw the group of teens coming out of the house next door.  Standing to meet them Ichigo noticed the bright blue he was longing to see was missing.

“Hey Nnoi, where’s Grimm?”  Ichigo called out.  Four sets of eyes turned toward him in surprise.

“Well shit, berry-boy!  Ain’t seen you in a hot minute!  Grimm’s already gone, he got up early and headed out,” Nnoitra chuckled.

Ichigo’s face fell; he had been really looking forward to seeing the teal haired bastard.  Sighing he fell in step with Nnoitra and walked the entire way to school in silence.  Stark and Ulquiorra watched the orangette with knowing eyes.  They had both noticed the discord between their brother and his lover.  Grimmjow had been downright unbearable to be around.  The brothers both thought that the two were being idiots.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow hadn’t been in class all morning, making Ichigo worry.  At lunch Ulquiorra approached the uneasy orangette, he had a disgruntled look on his face.  Ichigo raised an eyebrow looking at the stoic man questioningly.

“Ichigo, I was asked to deliver a message.  I do not appreciate being dragged into your relationship.  Grimmjow has had his classes temporarily reassigned to home schooling; he is leaving tonight to go back to Osaka for a week or two.  He claims he needs to get away for a bit.”

“Hmm.  Thanks Qui.  Sorry about this,” Ichigo said already walking away.  Ulquiorra shook his head and walked off muttering to himself about damn fool idiots.

Ichigo walked into the empty classroom and sat at his desk, pulling out his phone he began typing.

What’s your deal?  Can’t you even tell me yourself that you’re leaving?  I’ve been looking for you all morning and you send Qui to tell me you’re taking off? WTF!? –Berry

Ichigo hit send before he lost his nerve.  He wasn’t expecting Grimmjow to reply so when his phone went off he was a bit surprised.

Like it matters to you if I’m here or not –Grimm

 What the hell is that supposed to mean?? –Berry

Just what it sounds like, you probably wouldn’t have noticed my absence is I hadn’t had Qui tell you –Grimm

This again?  I’m sorry that my schedule is shit!  I can’t really do anything about it!  It’s only for another few months. –Berry

You weren’t too busy last night.  My window faces yours remember?  I saw you sitting on the roof instead of spending that rare free time with me.  We haven’t had any time together for months and you decided that lying on the roof in the rain is better? –Grimm

“Shit” Ichigo thought.

I was sitting there thinking about how things have been lately between us.  And I fell asleep in the rain.  I woke up this morning still on the roof.  I had every intention of coming to see you last night.  I just didn’t want to fight again. –Berry

Well you got what you wanted, we didn’t fight. –Grimm

Don’t be this way.  Talk to me, meet me somewhere right now. –Berry

Too little too late.  I have to go home and pack, Aaroniero will be here to get me in a few hours. –Grimm

Fine, if you feel the need to run away, enjoy your trip.  I never took you for a coward. –Berry

Ichigo hit the power button on his phone, effectively ending the conversation.  He was pissed and hurt; he stood up and stormed out of the classroom.  Leaving behind a crumpled piece of paper on his desk

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Kensei walked into class after lunch expecting to see Ichigo at his desk.  He had seen the exchange between Ichigo and Ulquiorra on the roof and knew his friend probably needed a little time to himself.  However when he found no Ichigo in class he began to worry a little.  When the bell rang and still no sign of Ichigo, Kensei looked around and noticed the paper sitting on the empty desk.  Ignoring the teacher telling him to take his seat he grabbed the paper that appeared to have red doodles all over it.  Looking closely Kensei’s eyes widened as he grabbed his bag running out the door.  Pulling is phone out as he ran he quickly called Urahara in a panic.

“Have you seen Ichigo?” he yelled into the phone as soon as it stopped ringing.

“No, why?” came the child’s reply, “What’s carrot-top done now?”

“Jinta, get Kisuke now!  Tell him something is wrong with Ichi!  I’m on my way to Tessai now.”

Kensei closed his phone as he burst into Tessai’s office shoving the paper in front of the large man.  “Read tis!  We need to find Ichi!”

Tessai looked at the paper in front of him and growled.  The paper had small blood stains on it and scrawled across it were the words,

_My King is hurt.  I will not stand for this.  I will have blood to sooth this pain._

“I think Shiro is going after Grimmjow.  He and Ichi have been fighting a lot lately and today Grimmjow pulled out of school to go back to Osaka, he sent Ulquiorra to tell Ichi.”  Kensei panted.

Tessai picked up the phone and started dialing, “Isshin get to Aizen’s, Shiro is most likely heading there.  Grimmjow is the catalyst we feared.”

Hanging up he picked up the intercom and summoned Ichigo and Grimmjow’s friends and family.  When they had all arrived he sent them to find Ichigo.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

_“My King loves you, he lives because of you, and you dare to cause him such pain!”_

Grimmjow lay on the ground looking up into burning golden eyes full of malice and murderous intent.  “Ichigo?  What the hell!?” yelled Grimmjow.

_“Sorry Kitty, Ichigo isn’t here right now.  It’s you and me, King can’t help you.  He’s locked himself away again.  I thought you were good for my King.  I thought he would finally be able to heal and allow us to vanish.  Instead you have made him worse!  He will never open his heart again now.  Because of you his soul is most likely going to die, leaving only me and that scary ass Tensa!”_ Shiro screamed his fist clenched so tight his nails cut deeper into his palms.  _“This is my Kings blood,”_ he opened his hand showing the blood running down his palms; _“this blood is shed because of you.  King does not wish you harm so I will spare you.”_ Shiro grabbed Grimmjow’s hands smearing them with blood, he placed his other hand over Grimmjow’s heart, _“His blood is on your hands, because your heart was not true.  Now leave, go back to Osaka, and let my King be.  If you cannot heal him, only harm him, you are no longer welcome.  I will try to heal my King again, I hope it’s not too little too late.”_   Shiro looked at the man below him one last time and walked away.

Grimmjow stared at his lovers back as he walked away; wondering if this was truly the end.  His heart felt like it was being ripped out of his chest as he recalled Shiro’s words.  He pulled himself to his feet and walked to his house to pack.  He ran his hand down his face with a sigh, not realizing that he had just smeared the blood from his hand over half his face.  When he walked in his front door he found a rather anxious group of people.

“Grimmjow!  Are you ok?”  Aizen said rushing to his son’s side.

“Yeah pop, I got knocked down is all.”

“You have blood all over you!”

“None of it is mine, it’s all Ichigo’s,” Grimmjow saw Isshin jump to his feet.  “He’s not hurt, I didn’t touch him.  Shiro found me, he had a few things to say and his palms were bleeding from digging his nails in.  He had his say and left.  I’m going to shower and pack, Aaroniero will be here soon.”  Grimmjow walked away before anyone could protest.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Shiro walked into the park and sat under a weeping willow, relaxing he reentered his world.

“Shiro, what have you done?” Ichigo cried.

_“King, let him go.  If he is the one for you, he will be back to fight for you.”_

“Shiro, I’m tired, so damn tired.  I don’t know if I can keep going like this.”

_“Sleep King.  I’ll keep you safe.  I will always take care of you”_ Shiro watched as Ichigo lay down and easily fell into a deep sleep.

“Shiro, will you remain in control until he awakens?  Can you handle it without causing destruction?”

_“No Zan, I am pure rage, outside of here I can only wreak havoc.  So either we stay put under this tree or you take over.”_

“I do not know if I can without letting Tensa out as well.  I suppose I can try though.”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Isshin hung up his phone; looking up at his friends he gave a small smile.”I called in reinforcements.  If anyone can find Ichigo it’s Zaraki.”

“Isshin, he’s gonna be fine, you’ll see.  I just wish I knew what happened.  They were so happy, now they are falling apart,” Sousuke said placing a reassuring hand on his close friends shoulder.

“I would like to know that myself.”

 

 


	28. Chapter 28

“Kenny used his Ichi-sense to find him!”  Yachiru chirped happily into the phone.  “We’re at the west side of the park by the big crying tree!  Ichi’s asleep under it.”

“Oh thank kami!  Tell your father not to wake him, I’m on my way!”  Isshin hung up the phone heading for the door.  “Zaraki found him asleep at the park!”

“Wow it only took him an hour to find him!” said Gin.

“Will you let everyone know for me?  I need to get to the park, if he wakes up as Shiro, I don’t want Zaraki to be the first one he sees.”

“Go, go!  We’ll take care of everything here!”

Isshin ran the six blocks to the park.  When he arrived he slowly approached his son, unsure of what would happen next.  He stretched out his hand to shake the sleeping boy awake only to have his wrist locked in a crushing grip.

“You would be wise not to touch this body.”

Isshin’s eyes locked not with his sons soft chocolate eyes, but eyes that were deep pools of blood tainted mercury.  Gasping Isshin took a step back, his wrist released to allow greater distance between the two.  “Who are you?  Where is Ichigo?”

“I am Zangetsu; Ichigo is here, safe and asleep.  My control of this body is tenuous at best; I was unable to assume control without bringing the other half with me.  Please keep your distance and keep calm, do not aggravate Tensa and I believe he will allow me dominance.”

“Why are you here?  I know that Shiro was here first, why has Ichigo not resumed dominance?”

“Shiro took over because Ichigo’s soul has been dealt an injury.  In order for him to be able to recover he needs to rest, he is now asleep.  I will be here until he awakens; I believe that it will be safer if we return to Urahara-sans dojo.  I am afraid that your house is too close to the source of Ichigo’s pain and it will not turn out well for anyone involved.”

“Let’s go, I will have Zaraki follow us there but keep his distance.  He will be able to intercept anyone who tries to approach us on the way.”  Isshin went to speak the hulking man not noticing the small pink haired girl sneaking up to the orange haired teen still sitting under the tree.

“Child, do not attempt to sneak up on me, I will not be held responsible for your welfare.”

Yachiru moved out into the open and approached he fathers friend, “You’re not Ichi, are you?  You look like him but you don’t sound like him.”

“No I am not Ichigo.  I am here to help Ichigo.”

“Ok, as long as you’re here to help Ichi, I like you.  What’s your name?”

“Zangetsu.  Thank you Yachiru, I think your father is looking for you.  It is time to go.”

The group began the trip to Urahara Shoten in silence.  Zaraki watching for anyone that may try to approach them.  The hulking figure emitting a menacing air caused pedestrians to cross the street to avoid them.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

“So Grimmjow, what is going on?”  Aizen entered his son’s room and sat on the edge of the bed.

“We had a fight, nothing more.”

“You have had fights before and never had it escalate to this point.  What has changed?”

“He has.  I have.  I really don’t know for sure.  I just know that I need to get away to think about all of this.  But I screwed up, I was so mad at him I sent Qui to tell him that I was taking off for a little while.  When he asked me why I didn’t tell him, well, I was an ass t him.  He called me a coward.  And you know what dad?  He’s right, I am a coward.  I was on my way home when Shiro found me, the things he said hurt.  He told me to leave, that if I can only cause harm and pain than I was no longer welcome.  The thing is I never meant to hurt him, I love him and I miss him so bad.  I got a lot crazy, and took it out on him instead of trying to talk to him.  Shiro was right, my heart isn’t true enough.  I don’t deserve to have Ichigo if I can’t accept all that he is.”

“Grimmjow, I am sorry.  But please don’t doubt yourself so much.  Do you love him?”

“Yes.”

“Can you live without him?”

“No.”

“Are you willing to face his wrath in order to fix this?”

“Yes.  But I don’t think his other fragments will allow me near him.”

“That is the wrath you will have to face.  Ichigo has been located and he is ok for now.  Isshin called and let me know that Ichigo is going to be away for a few days.  He is locked inside his head asleep and the one known as Zangetsu is in control, but Tensa is also there simmering under the surface.  I want you to go to Osaka, I will talk to Isshin and we will work and getting them to allow you to speak to Ichigo.”

“Shit, if you think it is best I will.”

“Aaroniero is already here, finish your packing and come on down.”

Aizen returned to the living room where his partner was talking with a tall red head.  “Hello Aaroniero.  How are you doing?”

“I am well. How are you doing father?”

“I have been better.  I need you to take care of your brother, I’m afraid his heart and his mind are at war with each other.  He is too stubborn to listen to his heart and ignore his brain, so he acts stupidly.”

“I will help him if I can.  Ahh, Grimmjow, it is good to see you.  I wish we could stay longer but I have to be at school in the morning so we must leave.”

Grimmjow nodded and hugged his fathers good bye.  He couldn’t help but think that things were going to hell in a hand basket and he could only hold on for the ride.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Aizen and Isshin sat around the low table in the backroom of the shop.  The atmosphere was heavy and depressed.

“So he’s really gone?”

“Yes.”

“Are you ok?”

“”No.”

“What happened?”

“Kisuke went to check on him this morning and his bed was empty, all of his things are gone, and this was left for us.”

Isshin handed Aizen an envelope, extracting the contents he unfolded the letter and read.

Goat-face,

According to Shiro I have been asleep now for 3 days.  I woke up this morning and was informed that Zangetsu has been in control and that I have been moved into Kisuke's for the time being.  I took a walk to try to clear my head and ended up at the house, and it all hit me again.  I know that Grimmjow has left and is in Osaka, I think it is for the best.  But I know that he will be back again and I don’t think that I can deal with the stress of another fight with him.  I am taking a leave of absence, I am allowed to under my contract if I need mental health leave, I think this qualifies.  I am going back to sleep, I am letting Zangetsu and Shiro take care of things for me for a while.  I already contacted the school and will take my finals online.  I don’t know when things got so screwed up but they did and I don’t know how to fix it anymore.  I guess you can call me a coward because I am choosing to take the cowards way out and running away.  I’ll let you know that I’m ok when I figure out where I am going.  I’m sorry for everything.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

A pale orange haired boy stepped off the train in Noshiro; he was tired and not surprised to find a dark skinned man waiting for him.

“Ichigo, you are a long way from home.”

“I know Uncle Kaname, I need to be.  How did you know I was going to be here or is this a coincidence?”

“Your arrival was logical, and I checked to see if you purchased a train ticket.”

Ichigo laughed and followed his Uncle to his temporary home.  He thought that maybe here he could sort out his twisted heart and soul.  Maybe here, so far from the pain he could heal without going back to sleep.  His uncle had been there for him after his mother died and was able to help him overcome the growing darkness maybe he could do it again. 

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

“Grimmjow, calm down.  He left soon after you did.  We know where he is and that he is safe.  Before you even ask, no we won’t tell you where he is.  I will tell you he is with Tousen, so any attempt to get there will be useless, he’ll be gone before you get 10 feet out of town.  Isshin said he had to be back at the end of six months or he will be in violation of his contract.  He has his phone it is turned off most of the time but if you send him a message he will get it.  Do not be brash, Tousen said that Ichigo has been in charge for the most part and that he is making progress.  If Ichigo is ready to talk to you he will.” Aizen sat with his son at the dining room table, only an hour after he returned from Osaka.

With a deep sigh, Grimmjow took out his phone and typed five words only, I’m sorry, I love you.


	29. Chapter 29

_Three months later_

Ichigo sat meditating under a large cherry tree in his uncle’s back yard.  His outward appearance seemed calm and tranquil but inside a battle was raging.

_“King, are you done hiding?  I am tired of this shit!  It has rained here for months, I’m so water logged that if you ring me out I could turn the Sahara into a jungle!”_

“Shiro, I’m not hiding.  Not anymore, I am just enjoying the peace and calm.  Is it wrong that I am in no rush to return to the mess I made at home?”

“Ichigo, you need to confront the issues you are avoiding.  Go home, see him and talk to him.  At least call the man!  He has sent the same message every day for three months.  You are still in love with him; he is still living here after all.”

** “Do something!  Make up with him or get over him!  I am ready to kill that damn cat!  He won’t leave me alone!  I do not cuddle!” **

“Damn, I got all three of you yelling at me now!  And I have no idea what the three of you are talking about; I haven’t seen the panther since I left.  If he’s still here why hasn’t he shown himself to me?”

_“Aibou, you really are dumb.  He won’t come out because it would be a painful reminder of what’s not here right now.  If you call him he will come to you but only if you are ready to deal with the issue head on.”_

“Fuck off Shiro; I’m tired of you calling me names.  And just so all four of you know, I already bought a train ticket home!  We leave in three days.  Now, get out here you damn cat, I miss your warmth.”

Ichigo was knocked down by a solid black mass; his face was subjected to an overzealous tongue.  Laughing he wrapped his arms around the panther and felt his purring sooth away some of the ache in his heart.  The torrential downpour in his inner world let up ever so slightly.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Ichigo still had not called Grimmjow, he didn’t want to have the kind of discussion they needed to have over the phone.  Unwilling to put it off though, he had called Aizen and asked the man for a favor.

“Grimmjow, get down here please!”  Aizen called up the stairs.  The blue haired teen appeared looking worn out.  Grimmjow had thrown himself into training to help forget the pain of not hearing from Ichigo for months.  “I need you to do me a huge favor, I have to go to the office for a meeting and I have a friend coming in to town today.  I promised I would pick them up but then Yamamoto called a meeting, so I need you to go to the train station and fetch them for me.”

“Get one of the others to do it, I’m too tired.”

“No one else is here right now, so I need you to do it.  Isshin even said that you can take Ichigo’s bike out if you want; it needs to be run so that it doesn’t fall into disrepair.  I have not asked you for anything these past few months, now I need you and you will do what I ask.”  Aizen let out a deep sigh; he had known that his son would be a stubborn mule.

“Fine, what time?  And I’ll take my car if it’s all the same.”

“That’s fine.  The train arrives in one hour and I have already given my friend notice that you will be there to get them so they will find you.”

“Ok, let me get ready to go then.”  Grimmjow walked back up the stairs not noticing the large shit eating grin on his father’s face.  Chuckling to himself Aizen walked over to Isshin's house where the rest of the family was hiding.

“How did it go?”  asked Gin, wrapping his arms around his lover’s waist.

“I had to guilt him into it, but I knew it would be a fight to get him to go.  I’m hoping that this turns out for the best.”

“It will.  I’ve been talking to Ichi-nii almost every day since he’s been gone, and he is in a very good place right now,” everyone in the room turned and stared at the dark haired Karin like she had grown a second head.

“You’ve been talking to your brother and you neglected to inform your dear father!  My daughter doesn’t love me!”  Isshin wailed.

“And that is why he didn’t talk to you Goat-face.  Besides I know that you and Aizen both have been in touch with Uncle Kaname the entire time Ichi has been there.”

Isshin looked sheepish and Aizen just laughed, “You are very observant.  We only wished to know how he was doing.  I at least wasn’t trying to pry, but it is my son that is the other half of the equation.”

“I know.  And Ichi is still in love with him, they are both just too stupid to shut off their brains and follow their hearts.  But a few days ago when Ichi called me he said that Tensa threatened to take over and spar with Zaraki, armed.  He found it disturbing, but he had already decided to come home anyhow.  His fragmented soul is starting to merge back together, he can actually talk to and control all three of them now.  He said soon they should just fade away.”

“Wow, since when does Ichigo open up like that to anyone?” asked Kisuke.

“Zangetsu started it and forced Ichigo to keep working on it, since I am the most like Ichigo he chose to talk to me.”

“Grimmjow just left, now we just have to wait and hope for the best.” Said Gin looking out the front window.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Grimmjow was in a very bad mood, he didn’t want to do anything but sleep.  He arrived at the train station and took up a spot by the entrance to wait for his father’s friend.  Leaning against the wall he began to doze off and didn’t notice the head of bright orange hair that was heading straight for him.

Stepping off the train Ichigo immediately saw the bright teal hair that had been haunting his dreams for months.  He began moving toward the tall man leaning on the wall and was concerned when Grimmjow didn’t show any signs of noticing him.  Stopping a few feet in front of the man Ichigo noticed that the one he was dying to jump on was asleep.

“Oi!  Give me your damn keys!  You can’t even stay awake long enough to sit down to nap, I really don’t feel like dying because you fell asleep behind the wheel.”  Ichigo said in a loud but playful tone.

Grimmjow's eyes snapped open locking onto the widely grinning Ichigo in front of him.  “Huh?  Wait, you’re the one I’m supposed to be picking up?  What the hell?  I don’t hear from you for months and my father sends me to get you!  Wait why isn’t your dad getting you?  You know what screw this, you can walk.”

Ichigo started laughing as the blue haired man stormed out of the train station; he knew that this was going to be hard.  Walking out of the train station pulling out his phone to call a cab he noticed that Grimmjow had stopped outside and was breathing heavily.  Concerned Ichigo walked over to him and saw that the man had tears running down his face.

“Grimm, let’s talk.  Give me one hour then if you want me to leave you alone I will,” Ichigo said softly so he wouldn’t startle the other man.  Grimmjow opened his eyes and looked at Ichigo, searching for something in his eyes.  Finally he nodded his head and walked out to his car.

“It takes almost an hour to get home; you have until then to say what you need to say.”  Grimmjow bit out, his words laced with ice.  Ichigo shivered at the venom but refused to back down, he had fucked up and he needed to fix this. 

It took a few minutes to get settled into the car and get back on the road, Ichigo used that time to gather his thoughts and find a good spot to begin.  Grimmjow was glancing at the smaller man out of the corner of his eye, wondering what the other had to say.  Sighing, Grimmjow had to admit that Ichigo looked damn good and he was having a hard time not pulling the car over and jumping on the man.  Admonishing himself Grimmjow reminded himself that there was still too much damage and hurt for that, growling he looked at the orangette and said, “Well?”


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer/AN:  Have you ever noticed that when you’re in a crappy mood your writing reflects it?  That is what happened with the last few chapters.  The idea for this chapter came to me when I was listening to Good Charlotte’s The Truth.  I hope you like the inane rubbish my chaotic mind spit out.  I do not own the rights to The Truth (pouts).**

 

Ichigo took a deep breath and turned in his seat so he could see Grimmjow’s profile.  His heart was pounding in his chest and his palms were starting to sweat.  He knew that he needed to start talking before Grimmjow got pissed and threw him out of the car.

“First things first, I need you to know that I am sorry as well.  Second, I love you; I don’t want you to ever doubt that for one second.  Things got hard and neither of us handled it very well, but not once during all the fighting and stress did that ever change.”

Grimmjow snorted in disbelief, but didn’t say anything.  Ichigo scowled but continued, he needed to be heard and he wasn’t going to stop now that he had started.

“When we got home from Yokohana we didn’t think that anything could affect us anymore after the whole fiasco with Luppi.  We were so very wrong.  I was still not over almost dying, or the emergence of Tensa.  I allowed myself to get overwhelmed by everything because I was hiding behind my responsibilities in order to not have to deal with the very real fear I was feeling.  I have only felt terror like that once before, when my mother was killed.  I didn’t even stop to think about how it affected you, and for that I am truly sorry.  I let all of my fear be channeled into anger and rage again, Shiro was so close to the surface that I didn’t even think to not fight with you.  During the quieter moments I was more in control but I was so exhausted that I didn’t notice anything was wrong.  That last night, I had taken the night off to come and see you.  Don’t scoff, I did.  I knew you weren’t home so I decided to enjoy the night air and watch for you from the roof.  I got so lost in my thoughts about us and how bad things had gotten I didn’t notice you come home.  I was laying there in the rain with my heart breaking because I could only see the similarities between the way things were with us at the time and how things were at the end of my relationship with Renji.  You said that you saw me up there, what you couldn’t see is that I cried myself to sleep in the rain.  I know that isn’t an excuse, it’s not meant to be, I just want you to know all of the facts.  When I woke up the next morning I had decided that I wasn’t going to give you up without a fight.  You mean too much to me to just let go like that.  I waited for you that morning but Nnoi told me that you had left early, I was disappointed but I knew that I would see you in class so I was ok.  When I got to school and didn’t see you at all I was so worried about you, but then lunch came.  And with lunch came Qui and the message you asked him to give me.  I didn’t notice it at first but Shiro had already pretty much taken over before Qui had even finished talking.  I was so hurt that you couldn’t come and tell me yourself that I let him out to vent the pain and anger.  I couldn’t understand at the time why you were running away, what reasons you had for going back to Osaka other than seeing it as an act of a coward.  I understand now why you did it, hell I ran even further.  I shouldn’t have called you a coward, I shouldn’t have sent those texts to you in the first place, Shiro was exerting his influence over me.  By the end of that conversation, I was already gone.  Shiro had full control and I didn’t care anymore.  I didn’t stop him when he went after you and I couldn’t do anything when he just let you walk away.  I went to sleep and slept for most of the week.  Zangetsu ended up having to come out and that was a bloody disaster waiting to happen.  During the six days I slept Zangetsu and Tensa fought for dominance of my body.  Tensa was always just below the surface ready to come out at the first provocation.  Since Zan and Tensa are the same person the fight almost destroyed them both.  A part of me almost died because I couldn’t deal with reality anymore.  After I woke up I took a walk and ended up outside your house.  Starrk was outside and saw me, he sat with me for an hour and only said that you would be back and things would get better.  I panicked because I could feel the rage surging inside again, I was hurt that you had left and mad because I had let you.  When that rage was building I could feel Shiro panicking as well, I didn’t understand why until Starrk asked me why my eyes were turning blue.  I left without answering him; I knew that Tensa was stirring.  I went back to Kisuke’s and decided that I needed to get away from everything that stirred any emotion in me, for everyone’s safety.  I left a note and packed a bag, saying that I was running because I was taking the cowards way out and going back to sleep.  I decided that going to Uncle Kaname’s in Noshiro was the best place for me to go.  It’s quiet and Uncle Kaname would be able to help me learn to control my emotions and by proxy control the three that are running rampant in my head.  I was right, the distance from everything and everyone was enough to relieve enough of the stress to allow me to focus without fighting them every step of the way.  Not that I didn’t have to fight, but that’s another story.  I got everyone of your messages and cried every night; I caused it to rain on my inner world enough to almost drown its occupants.  Even the you that lives there avoided me, until I made the decision to come home and face you again.  With Uncle Kaname’s help I have been able to access long buried memories and emotions, I have almost full control over the three of them now.  I can call upon which ever one I need and send them back without much difficulty now.  But of everything I learned while I was away, I learned one lesson the hard way.  I can’t tell you how sorry I am for leaving the way I did.  I thought that if I ran from you I would be able to ease the pain and the only thing that I did was make it worse, because I knew that my actions had caused your pain.  And that was the one thing I realized I couldn’t live with.  We both did and said some pretty fucked up shit, but in the end I know that here with you is the only place I want to be.  If you can’t forgive me I understand and I will move on, but I don’t want to.  I want my soul to be whole again.  You are what is missing and I feel that lose all the way to the core of my being every second that we are apart.  I was just too stubborn to listen to my heart and accept that.”

Ichigo took a deep breath and watched Grimmjow’s face for a hint of what was going through his head.  When the blue haired man didn’t say anything or even look at him Ichigo assumed that his efforts were too little too late and he had lost the only one he had ever truly loved.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow’s mind was reeling, Ichigo was telling him that after everything that happened and all the time apart, he wanted to try to fix things.  Not only that but that he still loved him and that he was what was missing from his soul, that he wasn’t complete without him.  Grimmjow didn’t know what to say, he knew that Ichigo was waiting for him to respond, to do something.   His body seemed to move without his consent, he took the first exit he came to and pulled into the parking lot of a diner.  Parking he opened his door and began to get out, looking over at the puzzled man in his passenger seat he said gruffly, “I need coffee if I’m gonna deal with this shit.  Come if you want, it’s your choice.”

Ichigo slowly got out of the car and followed the surly bluenette into the diner.  After they were seated and had coffee in front of them Grimmjow looked closely at the orange haired man that was currently scowling at his coffee like it had robbed him.

“What did the coffee do to you?  Scowl at it any harder and people are gonna think you’re crazy.”  Grimmjow said softly.  Ichigo’s head snapped up at the sound of the voice that he had missed.  Grimmjow smirked at him and took a long drink out of his own cup.  “So, I think I understand some of the reasons you left, but that doesn’t explain why you didn’t contact anyone for three fuckin’ months.  Not even a go fuck yourself text.  I was beginning to think that you might never come home.  See I needed a few days away to try to think about how to fix us, and my brother Aaroniero is a therapist so I figured that if I went to stay with him for a bit he could help me figure things out.  He did, he helped me figure out that I was being such an ass because I was afraid.  Afraid of being with you and afraid of losing you.  The longest relationship I’ve ever had is with that little psycho, and that is only because I was too lazy to dump him, but with you I was able to see us together many many years from now and I got kinda freaked out.  I am not used to stability in my life, I was bounced from one foster family to another growing up, when I turned 14 I was locked up in juvie because I beat this kid and hospitalized him.  He and his friend were picking on this girl; I couldn’t stand those that preyed on the weak.  Only thing is, the girl wasn’t weak.  She was a few years older than me, but she looked so innocent.  She was tall and thin with an enormous set of tits, she had this lisp that was adorable and her hair was this soft long sea green color.  I immediately ran to help her and was shocked when she laid out the first guy with only two hits; I went after the second one before he could retaliate against her.  His parents pressed charges and I got locked up, I was supposed to serve two years but there was an appeal filed on my behalf and I only ended up serving six months.  I learned about a week before I got out that there was a petition for my adoption that had been filed, I was shocked to say the least.  The day before I was released I was visited by the same green haired girl and two older men, they said that they had a proposition for me and at first I was skeptical.  The girl was Nel, when she had told her father’s Aizen and Gin about what had happened they decided to look into my situation, they filed the appeal for me and got the charges reduced and my sentence shortened, then they decided that anyone who was decent enough to stand up for a complete stranger was someone they wouldn’t mind having in their family.  They filed the paperwork to adopt me and that day in the prison they signed all the final paperwork in front of me, they had wanted to make sure I wanted to join their family first.  Aizen and Gin gave me the first stable home I’d ever had and the love of family I had only read about.  I want you to understand a bit more about me so that you understand why I panicked and ran.  I didn’t get it at first either, Aaroniero had to point it out to me.  And even though I am afraid to be with you I am even more terrified to be without you.  You are the other half of me, I have felt it these past three months, without you by my side, I am empty.  Don’t get me wrong, Berry, I’m still pissed that you took off for three months and didn’t even let me know you were alive.  Do you know the shit I went through?  Let me tell you, if I never have to deal with your sisters again it will be too soon.  But that as they say is a story for another day.  The only think I can say right now is that I am sorry for the shitty way I treated you, I know that I was wrong, and I do love you.  However, I don’t know where we stand and I don’t know where to go from here.”

“Grimm, we go forward, hopefully together but apart if that’s what needs to be.  One step at a time, one day at a time.  I don’t want to lose you so I am willing to take my time and try to figure this out.”

“Let’s go home; I’ll let you know what’s next when we get home.”

The rest of the drive was silent, but Ichigo felt almost at ease wrapped in the sent that was so familiar yet so foreign.  A small frown appeared on his face, he recognized Grimmjow's sent in the car but there was another one that he couldn’t place, deciding it probably belonged to one of his family members he chose to ignore it. 

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow pulled up in front of the Urahara Shoten and parked, looking at Ichigo’s confused look he laughed a little, “I have practice today, I’m already late because of you and my father’s scheming.  You can either wait here of come in, it’s your dojo after all.”

Ichigo got out of the car in time to see a tall man with jet black hair plaited down is back walk up to Grimmjow.  Trying not to look at the two interact Ichigo grabbed one of his bags and turned to enter the shop only to stop then the tall man leaned in close to Grimmjow and kissed him on both of his cheeks.

Ichigo felt his breath catch and his heart gave a painful lurch.  Turning away from the two other men he caught sight of Grimmjow’s smile and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are
> 
> We are alone
> 
> There’s a weight on your mind
> 
> I wanna know
> 
> The truth
> 
> If this is how you feel
> 
> Say it to me
> 
> If this was ever real
> 
> Chorus
> 
> I want the truth
> 
> From you
> 
> Give me the truth
> 
> Even if it hurts me
> 
> I want the truth
> 
> From you
> 
> Give me the truth
> 
> Even if it hurts me
> 
>  
> 
> I want the truth
> 
>  
> 
> So this is you
> 
> You talking to me
> 
> You found a million ways to let me down
> 
> So that I’m not hurt when you’re not around
> 
> I was blind
> 
> But now I see
> 
> This how you feel
> 
> Say it to me
> 
> If this was ever real
> 
>  
> 
> Chorus
> 
>  
> 
> I know that this will break me
> 
> I know that this might make me cry
> 
> You gotta say what’s on your mind, on your mind
> 
> I know that this will hurt me
> 
> And break my heart and soul inside
> 
> But I don’t wanna live this life
> 
>  
> 
> Chorus
> 
>  
> 
> I don’t care no more, no
> 
> Just give me the truth
> 
> Give me the truth
> 
> Cuz I don’t care no more
> 
> Give me the truth
> 
> Cuz I don’t care no more, no
> 
> Just give me the truth
> 
> Give me the truth
> 
> Give me the truth
> 
> Give me the truth
> 
> Give me the truth
> 
> Cuz I don’t care no more, no
> 
>  
> 
> The Truth-Good Charlotte


	31. Chapter 31

_“King, you ok?”_ asked Shiro cautiously.  The world around him trembled slightly.

“I’m okay Shiro; just a little surprised is all.  I wasn’t expecting that, to see another man kiss him and to see him so happy about it.”

** “Ichigo, I can feel you feeding your anger into me.  You must stop now; you must focus and control it.  Unless you want me to vent it for you, but I will not be held responsible for those I damage.” **

“No Tensa, I think I’ve got this.  Let’s go inside and put my things in my room.  I think if Kisuke is ok with it, I’ll move in here for the time being.”

** “As you wish.  Might I suggest an outlet?  Meditation or training perhaps?” **

Ichigo hummed his agreement as he dropped his bag on the porch.  Taking a deep breath he turned back to the car to retrieve his other bags, glancing at the two men as he passed them he gave a tight smile.

“Hey Grimmjow, I need to grab my other bags, is the car still open?”

“Yeah, but why are you taking your stuff in here?”

“This is the stuff that I have always kept here.  I have had a room here for most of my life; I’ve known Kisuke since I was born.”

“Oh, ok.  Here’s the keys, lock up when you’re done.  I’ll come get you when practice is over.”

Ichigo nodded as he caught the keys and went to retrieve his bags.  When he entered the shop he was greeted by a petite girl that looked up at him with large doe eyes.

“Ichigo-san!  I’m so glad you are home.”

“Thank you, Ururu.  I missed you too.  Where is Getabouchi?  I need to talk to him.”

“He’s in his office with Isshin-san.  I’ll take your bags to your room for you.”

“Thanks pip-squeak.” Ichigo said ruffling the girl’s hair causing her to giggle before she skipped off.

Ichigo walked into his kyoukan’s office, reaching up to grab his father’s foot that came at his head from behind.  Shoving his father back he shot him a glare and turned to face the blond he had come to see.

“Give me a minute, Goat-face; I need to talk to Kisuke.”  Ichigo never took his eyes off of his teacher but felt his father moving into position for another attack.  “Kisuke, I want to stay here for a while.  I don’t want to be a burden on you but I don’t feel quite ready to move back into the house yet.  I am still not sure if my control over my emotions is good enough to keep Shiro and Tensa leashed.”

“I’m okay with you living here for as long as you want, Ichigo.  You have always been like a son to me and my home is always open to you.”  Kisuke said, looking at the man who stood in front of him now, barely able to see the boy he once was.  Looking at his lover, he noticed the sad smile on his face.  Ichigo thanked him and turned to his father.

“Pop, I know you want me to come home but I can’t yet.  I’m gonna be by later though, I want to grab a few things and spend time with the girls.”

“I understand, take all the time you need my son.”

“Oh, Ichigo-kun, just so you know we have a practice session in, oh about five minutes.  I expect you to be there, you have been gone for quite a while, and I want to ensure you have not let your training laps.”

“Yeah right, Getabouchi, like Uncle Kaname would ever allow that to happen,” laughed Ichigo as he walked out to go change for practice.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Ichigo walked into the dojo, the air around him virtually cracked with the dark waves of irritation and anger that seethed and raged inside him.  After he left Urahara’s office to go to his room he was stopped by the sound of Grimmjow’s laughter.  Looking in the direction of the basement hatch he saw Grimmjow and the same tall dark haired man.  The man had his arm casually thrown across Grimmjow’s shoulders and was speaking quietly to the bluenette causing him to blush.  The anger that Ichigo had barely gotten under control broke free.  Ichigo moved silently away and went to change, ten minutes later Ichigo descended into the basement, fighting with Tensa in his head.

** “Ichigo, you are losing control, please allow us to help you” **

“No, I am fine.  I don’t need any help.”

** “At least find a strong partner and beat on them until you have exhausted you anger.” **

_“King!  Please, I don’t like it when this guy is around!”_

“I’M FINE!  NOW LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!”

Ichigo was so absorbed with his internal argument that he didn’t notice the people tripping over themselves to get out of his way.  By the time he reached Kisuke he had managed to get his inner voices to keep quiet.  Looking up he noticed the apprehensive looks he was receiving.  Growling he looked at his teacher and rumbled out, “Give me the strongest person here, if I don’t beat on someone now everyone will have the honor of meeting my demons.”

Kisuke looked at Ichigo’s tightly tensed body and subtly shifting eye color and took a deep breath, “Hold on, Gaki.  Give me a minute, go to the south east corner and your partner will be there soon.”  Ichigo nodded and moved quickly away.  Kisuke turned back to his fighters and chuckled at the looked of fear he was receiving.  “I won’t ask for any volunteers this time, this is beyond any of you at the moment.  I want you all to pair up and spar, keep clear of my fight and everything should be fine.”  Kisuke left his fighters and moved over to the group occupying the other end of the dojo.

“Sousuke, I have a favor to ask of you”

“Of course, what can I do to help Ichigo?”

“Observant as ever I see.  He needs an opponent that he cannot injure easily and will be able to last long enough to burn off his anger.”

“That would be either you are myself, then.  I don’t think any of the others has a chance right now.”

“I agree, I’ll spar with him, I just need you to keep watch over my other students.”

“Very well, if you need to I’ll change up with you.”

“If I need you I’ll call you.  I am not sure what the cause of this episode is, but it’s bad.”

“It’s probably my idiot son.  I warned him that he would probably have to endure Ichigo’s wrath, in the form of one of his others coming forward.”

“You may be right.  Give him a heads up, if Ichigo loses control and Grimmjow is the cause he may be forced into a confrontation and a nasty fight.”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Shiro and Tensa stood at the edge of the tree’s looking at their world shifting and changing again.  The sky was a mass of churning black clouds, the wind howled stripping the leaves from their branches, but the most disturbing thing was the blood red bleeding into the tranquil blue waters of the rivers.

_“This shit cannot be good.”_

** “No, it is not.  His anger has never done this before.  Be prepared, I believe one of us will be summoned before long.” **

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Ichigo had been fighting for over an hour and showed no signs of tiring.  Kisuke on the other hand was bruised and panting.  He signaled his old friend to trade places with him and the Espada all stilled, observing their father readying to engage the orange haired man.  Aizen had been observing the young man as fought Kisuke and had spoken to his son, Aaroniero about the boy’s situation.  They had devised a plan; one they hoped wouldn’t blow up in their faces.

Aizen was fast, faster that Ichigo had expected.  He used his speed to allow him to dodge the boy’s blows, letting him tire himself out.  Unfortunately it wasn’t.  Ichigo was getting more enraged at not being able to hit the brown haired man.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

The albino and his deadly companion watched the bloody rivers begin to boil and ran for cover as the winds began to uproot the trees.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Aizen saw it!  A brief flash of silver.  That was what he was looking for, he nodded to Aaroniero letting him know all hell was about to break loose.

“Ichigo, I don’t know why you are so upset.  Surely it isn’t because of Grimmjow?  
  He has done nothing wrong.”  Aizen said softly so only Ichigo could hear him.  Ichigo snarled and landed a solid blow on the man, knocking him back several feet.  “You were the coward, you ran away.”  Aizen continued, he hoped that enraging the boy further would work the way they hoped, if not he was afraid someone would end up in the hospital.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Shiro began to edge away from the man next to him; the intent to kill rolling off of him was so intense Shiro was going weak in the knees.  Ichigo’s anger was being forced into Tensa at an alarming rate.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

After a few more well worded taunts Ichigo felt his inner world surge, Tensa could no longer be held at bay.  With a cry of pure fury, Ichigo’s body stilled and the malice of Tensa filled the room.  Aizen stopped and moved back ten feet.  Glancing at Aaroniero he saw the man had moved everyone back along the wall.  Everyone was watching closely, ready to run if need be.

Ichigo opened his eyes and stared at Aizen calmly, the silver fire ringed in blood caused the older man to tremble slightly.  With a deep breath he steeled himself and slowly approached the young man.

“Tensa, I presume.”

** “Yes, are you ready to die?” **

“No, I only want to help.  You are the embodiment of Ichigo’s rage, we figured if could bring you out we could find a way to help.  Please I do not wish to fight you, I will if I have to, but I would prefer not to.  Please tell me what do we need to do?”

** “Move out of my way and remember that it was you that forced this.  I will end my teishu’s pain.” **

Tensa seemed to vanish from in front of Aizen and reappear at the other end of the dojo; in a split second he had his hand wrapped around Grimmjow’s throat and had thrown him fifty feet across the room.  Nobody could move, they were all frozen in shock and for more than a few in fear.  The tall dark haired man made a move toward where Grimmjow was getting to his feet but was stopped by a strong hand on his shoulder, looking back he saw Starrk.  His normally sleepy look gone, replaced by a hyper awareness that was rarely seen.

“This is not your fight.  For now.” The grey eyed man said, “I have a feeling this has something to do with you though.  I think that Ichigo saw you two and since Grimm is so dense and didn’t think about anything but you, Ichigo’s barely controlled emotional state has erupted into an uncontrolled inferno of rage.  This has most likely been building for a long time.  Stay out if it, you will not fare well if Ichigo gets his hands on you right now.  Grimmjow will have to find a way to get through to and tame the beast that he has chosen to love.”  The two watched in horrified fascination as the lovers faced each other in the middle of the floor.  They were talking but not loud enough to be heard by the others.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Shiro had his arms wrapped around Ichigo’s trembling body.  Tensa had not absorbed all of his rage.  Ichigo wanted to fight, he needed to feel his opponent’s bones breaking under his own hands, he wanted blood.  Shiro was for the first time ever afraid of Ichigo.  He did the only thing he could think of, he held his king tightly and whispered soothingly to the orange haired man.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

“Ichigo, what the hell!?”  Grimmjow said getting to his feet, looking at the man that came to a stop in front of him.  Letting out a gasp he saw those eyes again.  “Tensa, I take it that you are here to destroy me for the pain I have caused Ichigo.  Pain I never meant to inflict.”

** “I am here to end my teishu’s pain.  If I have to destroy you, it will not help him.  You will face me and we will enlighten each other.  You began to heal Ichigo, then you tore him apart, now my home is being ripped apart and flooded with boiling blood.  Do you know that this level of turmoil has never occurred before, EVER!” **

Tensa let out a roar of pure rage and launched at the startled Grimmjow.  His fist connected with the others face, the impact loud enough for everyone to hear and cringe at.  Grimmjow fell to the floor, stunned and in pain.  Tensa was on him pinning him to the ground before anyone could blink.

** “There is something we need to know, Ichigo is listening as well.  Was this ever real?  Did you ever love us?” **

Grimmjow looked at the embodiment of pure rage and for the first time saw the slight sadness that lurked behind those frighteningly intense eyes.  “Of course I love Ichigo, if that means that I love you, Zangetsu and Shiro as well then so be it.  What do you mean was this ever real?  Do you really think I was playing with you?”

** “Yes, that is what we believe.  You made it known to us earlier.  Now you will suffer for your inability to be true and honest.  I will see that Ichigo cannot be hurt anymore.” **

“What did I make known earlier?  I thought that we were on the same page after the talk we had.  I never said anything to you about ending this, just that I needed to think a little more about where we go from here!”

Grimmjow’s eyes widened as a hand came out to rest on Tensa’s shoulder.  Before he could react Tensa had the man on the ground, the loud crack from his arm being dislocated echoed in the quiet room.  Starrk looked on shaking his head, he warned him but fools never listen.

Grimmjow grabbed Tensa’s hand trying to pry it away off of the injured arm.  The look in Tensa’s eyes caused his blood to run cold.  Aizen moved forward to try to help, staying where he was able to be seen by the powder keg of a man.  As soon as he was close enough to them he spoke softly, trying not to make the man madder.

“Tensa, I would like to take my nephew to be looked at, I think you may have broken his arm.”


	32. Chapter 32

Well, I know they say all good things, must come to some kind of ending.  
We were so damn good, I guess we never stood a chance.  
Go on and find what you've been missing,   
And when that highway's tired of listening.  
You'll see I'm not that easy to forget.  
  
When a new moon shines through your window,   
Or you hear a sad song on the radio.  
And you don't why, but you just start to cry.  
Or you're driving around on a sunny day,   
And out of nowhere comes a pouring rain.  
And a memory hits you right out of the blue, that's just me thinking of you.

 

Thinking of You-Christian Kane  
  
  
  
Grimmjow looked into the stormy eyes silently pleading for the man to listen to Aizen and release the injured arm still firmly in his grasp.  Tensa ignored the pleading look and the quiet request, tightening his grip to the point the dark haired man cried out in pain.  Grimmjow saw the orange haired mans muscles coil and knew that he was getting ready to make a move.  “Please Tensa, don’t hurt him.  He was only trying to help; he thought that you were going to try to hurt me.  He wasn’t trying to attack you!”

** “I know he was not trying to attack me, I would hope that he is not that foolish, especially after Starrk warned him to stay out of this.  He chose to try to interfere and now I will deal with his impetuous actions.” **

Tensa heaved the prone man onto his shoulders and was across the room before either Grimmjow or Aizen could react.  Tensa had no desire to further harm the man, but he wanted to make sure the man never made the mistake of crossing him again.  **“What is your name?”**

“S-Shawlong,” the tall man groaned.

** “What is the blue hair to you?” **

“My senpai.”

** “So you are his kohai?  Is that the extent of your relationship with him?” **

“N-no, he is my cousin as well.  My mother is Aizen’s sister.”

** “So he is not blood?” **

“Um, I guess not.”

** “You would be wise to tread softly in front of my teishu, bow before my hanryo, and tremble in the prescience of my nijuujinkaku.  If you set one foot wrong you will lose it.” **

Tensa grabbed Shawlong again and tossed him to Starrk, **“Care for your family member, I will not damage him any further.”**

Returning to Grimmjow, Tensa leaned in close, grabbing the mans gi, and stared into wide blue eyes.  **“I feel the rage flowing through this body, but it is tempered by the anguish.  Now I will ask you one more time, is this real?”**   Grimmjow nodded his head without pause, Tensa smiled briefly, **“If we are to believe in you, you will need to prove you are strong enough to stand equal to my teishu.  Shiro is his horse, Zangetsu is his reason, I am his passion, you must be all of this and more.  To stand equal you must conquer us as he has.  If he is willing to move forward with you, you will have a long journey ahead of you.  You will fight one way or another, be it a fight to keep us or a fight to forget us.”**

Grimmjow looked at the man in stunned silence, what did all of this mean?  “Tensa,” Grimmjow began to voice is confusion when the silver fire morphed into molten gold.  “Shiro?”

_“Very good, Kitty.  Ichigo has calmed enough that he is no longer feeding Tensa, so now it’s my turn to play!”_   Shiro’s psychotic laugh rang through the dojo, making many shiver.  _“King has a little message for you, he said that he knows that this is his fault, he miss read the signs.  However, he has decided exactly where he stands now.  You need to find out where you stand, are you his kinoau hito or are you his hakaisha?  Think about this carefully, we will be back to find out your choice in a few days.  In the mean time, you should think about what set King off this time, because if you can’t see even that you are dumber than I took you for.  See ya soonish, kitty-boy!”_   Shiro cackled as he skipped off to see to Kisuke, he liked the crazy man and wanted to make sure that he wasn’t hurt too bad.

_“Hey you old pervert!  King didn’t beat you to bad did he?”_ Kisuke looked up at Shiro’s golden eyes and shook his head.  _“Good, you’re lucky we like ya!  We’re gonna go take a nap, I take it that your satisfied that we aren’t out of shape, ne?  See ya!”_   Shiro sauntered out of the room whistling with a maniacal glint shinning in his eyes as he glanced at Shawlong.  Inside their inner world the winds had died, the sky was an ominous deep purple, and rivers were still red but no longer boiling.  Ichigo slept in a clear spot of grass with the large form of the panther wrapped around him.  Zangetsu looked at the boy and gave a small smile, Ichigo was going to be ok, his resolve to survive was to strong.  If his heart would survive was another question all together.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow stood and left the dojo a few minutes after Ichigo had left.  He found his car keys hanging by the front door and a note from the man that left them there.  Growling he shoved the paper in his pocket and jumped in his car. 

Gin was at the front door waiting for him; his normal creepy grin was missing.  When Grimmjow stopped him front of him, the silver haired man wrapped his arms around his son.  “Are you alright?  Sou called me and told me what happened.  What I want to know is what caused him to snap?  Was he ok when you picked him up?”

“Yeah he was fine when I picked him up, we talked the entire way back and I thought we had made a lot of progress.  When we got to the dojo he got a little weird………SHIT!  Hold on Oyaji, I need to make a quick call!”  Grimmjow pulled his phone out and punched in Starrk’s number, needing to know what the man saw that day.

“Yo, you wanna know if I noticed anything today, huh?”  came the lazy drawl of his brother.  “Well, I can tell you this, the kid had the wrong idea about Shawlong.  And I blame that on you, you should have taken two seconds to introduce them.  You know that Shawlong’s been out of Japan for a long time and had picked up a few customs from France that are not seen as anything but overly personal here.” Grimmjow’s silence caused the man to groan, “You really are dense, he kissed you when he walked up to you in the parking lot.  Ichigo probably saw him kiss you and then you probably did something out of character, like smile or laugh.  That is what most likely started Ichigo’s decent into pure rage, but I know what put him over the edge.  When I was coming in I saw him looking at you and Shawlong, you two looked a bit too intimately acquainted with each other, he had his arm around you whispering in your ear making you blush and laugh.  Think about how that looked to Ichigo and you might be able to grasp the sudden onslaught of emotion and his reaction to Shawlong touching him.  Tch, he’s an idiot too, I told him to stay out of it.”

Grimmjow groaned, “It just dawned on me that Shawlong’s appearance might have been part of the cause.  Your right I’m an idiot.  I wonder if Ichigo will let me explain.”

“Nope, bro.  I just heard Sou and the crazy blond guy talking, Ichigo has checked out again for a bit.  Shiro said he’ll have Ichigo up and about in a few hours, that taming the fury feeding that Tensa guy wore him out.  I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to talk to him yet though.  He may need to take some time to get everyone back in check.  Send him a text, short and sweet, tell him when he is ready to see you, you’ll be waiting.  It’s all you can do at this point, but I would take the time to really evaluate if this is what you really want.  Can you tame the beast that lives in the inner most part of Ichigo?”

“Tch, idiot, why would I want to tame him?  They told me that I need to stand as an equal to him, and conquer them as Ichigo did, not conquer Ichigo.  Thanks for the info, Starrk.  I’ll see ya later.”

Hanging up his phone, he turned back to his waiting father.  He gave the man a weak smile and sighed heavily.  “Oyaji, I screwed up this time and Shawlong got hurt because of it.”

“Gaki, tell me what happened.”

“Please, I know with your ears you heard the entire conversation.  So just tell me what you think.”

Gin grinned and nodded, “Come let’s sit down and have a cup of tea, while I make it why don’t you go ahead and send that text.”  Grimmjow smiled and did just that.  As he settled at the table he remembered the note that Ichigo had left with his keys, pulling it out he opened it and read it again.

Grimm,

A few days, I need that time to deal with this.  I snapped and I feel horrible for it but perfectly fine with it at the same time.  Stay away until I come to you, I promise it will only be a few days.  I have asked Kisuke to move in here for awhile and he agreed so I can figure this out without having the main source of my turmoil in striking distance in case I lose complete control.  The last thing I want is to hurt you, but I can and most likely will, Tensa was right you know.  You will have to fight one way or the other, so will I.  I will talk to you soon, I love you.

Ichigo

Gin placed a cup of hot tea in front of the distracted blue haired man and took the note out of his hands, reading it he hummed and smiled a bit.  Gin’s hand tangled in blue hair as he passed a soothing hand over his son’s head, “So tell me, what was said to you?”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Ichigo was walking down the street on his way to is father’s house when he decided to check his phone, flipping it open he smiled.

Ichi, I am not expecting you to answer this message but I just needed to tell you that when you’re ready to talk, I am here.  I will always be here.  I love you and I know that things keep getting all fucked up, but I want to fix this.-Grimm

Ichigo arrived at his house with a new spring in his step and a smile on his face.  He had hope that they were going to fight to make this work.  Deep in his mind he heard a contented purr that he could almost feel vibrating his body.  Walking up to the front door Ichigo braced himself for his crazy fathers attack, but it never came.  When he walked into the living room he laughed so hard he cried.  Isshin was on the floor with his two daughters on top of him.  Karin was beaming with pride at Yuzu who had a very uncharacteristic scowl on her face.

“What is going on here?” Ichigo laughed out.

“Yuzu asked dad not to attack you when you got here after the day that you had but he refused to listen, so she asked me to show her how to take him down.  I am so proud of her Ichi-nii; she’s learning how to stand up for herself.” Karin crowed proudly.

Ichigo laughed and picked up his normally docile sister and hugged her tight.  “Yuzu, you did well.  Just don’t change who you are, you are perfect already.”

“Ichi-nii, I’m not changing anything.  I don’t want to learn to fight, just to control dad.”  Yuzu smiled at her brother, “But how are you doing?  You look like you’re doing well.  We heard from Kisuke that it was a really bad day at the dojo, that there was some fight that involved you.”

“I got a little crazy and let my temper get the best of me.  Everything is fine now.  I do want to talk to you and Karin though, come on let goat-face up and sit with me.”

“I need to finish cooking; can we talk at the table?”  Ichigo nodded and helped his dad up off the floor.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

“No!  Ichi-nii you can’t move out,” cried Yuzu, “you just got home and you’re leaving us already!”

“Yuzu, I’m staying at Kisuke’s for a bit, not completely moving out.  Not yet anyway, but I am 18 now and will be looking into getting my own place in the near future.  Think of this as a trial run for being on my own.”

“Humph, what was the last three months then?”

“Mental health leave?”

“That’s not funny Ichi, why would you need mental health leave?”

“Yuzu,” Karin said in a stern tone, “I already explained this to you.  You need to calm down; I think that Ichigo staying with Kisuke is a good thing for now.  He needs to do what is going to be best for him.”

“I know, I just don’t want him to leave us.”

Ichigo wrapped his arm around his sister, “Yuz, I would never leave you, even if I move out I am always still going to be here for you.”  Yuzu nodded burying her head in Ichigo’s chest.  “It is getting late though and I need to get some rest, so I need to grab a few things and head out.  Hey pop, I’m taking the bike.”

Isshin nodded at his son and moved to take his crying daughter from her brother’s arms.  Ichigo climbed the stairs to his room and pulled out a small bag, throwing a few personal items and his sketch book into it.  He hugged and kissed his sisters and waved to his dad before going into the garage to retrieve his motorcycle.  He smiled as he remembered the last time he had ridden it, when he took Grimmjow out to eat.  A smile on his face he put on his helmet, fired up the engine and pulled away.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow heard the roar of an engine and looked out his window in time to see Ichigo pull away.  He gave a sad sigh and went back to his thoughts on how to fix things with Ichigo.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used a lot of Japanese words in this chapter, here are their meanings:
> 
> Senpai-mentor
> 
> Kohai-protégé
> 
> Teishu-master
> 
> Hanryo-partner
> 
> Nijuujinkaku-double personality/other personality
> 
> Kinoau hito-soul mate
> 
> Hakaisha-destroyer
> 
> Oyaji-father


	33. Chapter 33

It had been a week since the incident with Shawlong and Tensa and Grimmjow was starting to feel like he was never gonna see Ichigo again.  Kisuke had Ichigo training some of the younger fighters that had a youth tournament coming up, so he was hardly ever at practice when Grimmjow was there.  Grimmjow sat on his front porch staring at the night sky wondering if he should try to reach out first.  His internal debate distracted him to the point he didn’t notice when someone sat down next to him.

Ichigo looked at the blue haired man and laughed to himself, he wondered what was going on his mind that he didn’t even notice when he sat down next to him.  Ichigo sighed, he was tired, his week had been long and exhausting.  The day after Tensa broke Shawlong’s arm Ichigo had gone to Aizen to express his remorse for the incident.  Aizen told him that it was ok, he did not blame Ichigo at all, and in fact he blamed himself for forcing Tensa to emerge.  Ichigo had Aizen take him to see the injured man so he could apologize to him personally.  That meeting was rather awkward, Shawlong watched him warily while a rather sever looking woman berated both him and Aizen.  In the end Shawlong accepted Ichigo’s apology and even asked if Ichigo could give him private lessons after his arm had healed.  Ichigo agreed and then excused himself and left Aizen to the mercy of his sister.  That same day Kisuke had asked him to fill in training some of the younger members of the dojos, since Yoruichi was sick.  Ichigo had agreed and spent the next week working with Karin, Jinta, and Ururu.  He was feeling increasingly guilty over the fact that he had promised that he would only need a few days and it had already been a week.

Rubbing his hand over his face he turned back so he was facing Grimmjow again and gently laid his hand on the man’s shoulder.  “Hey, Grimm.”

Grimmjow jumped at the unexpected pressure, his head snapping around to see a smirking Ichigo sitting less than a foot away from him.  “Ichigo!  Um, when did you get here?”

“I’ve been sitting here for a bit, you seemed like you were lost in your thoughts.  But I can’t sit here and wait for you to come out of it on your own; I’m too tired to stay for very long.  But I was dropping Karin off and knew that I needed to at least come and tell you that I am not ignoring you, I know I’m a few days over my few days and I’m sorry for that.  Kisuke has me working with Karin, Jinta, and Ururu for their competition next week.  They are going to be the death of me; I have to work with each of them individually.  Look, I need to get some sleep; I’m staying at dads tonight because I’ll never make it back to Kisuke’s, so tomorrow morning be out here at 9am.  I know your schedule is clear, I already checked with Qui, we will sit down and talk.  Ok?”

Grimmjow couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face, his Ichi was sitting next to him and they were making plans to meet and talk through things.  “I missed you Ichi.  I just needed to tell you that.  I will be out here in the morning; I’ll sit out here all night if you want.”

“I missed you too.  I don’t want you to stay out here all night, just maybe for a little bit longer?  I’m not up for talking about our problems right now, but I want to sit here with you for a little while.  Is that ok with you?”

“I’ll sit here with you for as long as you want.  I’ll even keep my mouth shut if you want.”

“No, we can talk, just nothing important for now.”

Grimmjow smiled and relaxed into the porch swings bench.  Ichigo followed suit and soon the two sat in comfortable silence swaying slightly.  After about 15 minutes Grimmjow felt a weight settle on his shoulder, looking down he smiled at the sleeping face of the man he loved.  Grimmjow decided not to move the man yet, he would get him home in a bit, but right now he wanted to enjoy the closeness he had been craving.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Isshin opened the front door as Grimmjow came up the walk carrying a sleeping Ichigo bridal style.  Grimmjow smirked at the man as he walked past, "You old men need to get a life.”  Settling Ichigo into his bed he debated undressing him or leaving him in his jeans.  Isshin and Karin came to the doorway and watched as Grimmjow sat at the edge of the bed looking at his exhausted lover.

Isshin cleared his throat quietly gaining the bluenettes attention.  “Can you help get him undressed?  I don’t feel like getting beat up if he wakes up.”  Grimmjow nodded and the two left pulling the door shut behind them.  Karin looked at her father and shook her head.

Grimmjow carefully began to remove Ichigo’s cloths, doing his best not to wake the sleeping berry.  With a small smile Grimmjow covered him, placed a chaste kiss on his cheek, and left the room.  Passing Karin in the hall he raised his hand, “I put him to bed, that’s all.  I promised to wait for him; he came to me tonight and asked if we can talk tomorrow.  I haven’t gone back on my word.”  Karin narrowed her eyes and nodded.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The next morning Grimmjow was sitting on his porch again at 9, when Ichigo came out his front door with a cup of coffee and looking like he still hadn’t woken up.  “Hey Grimm, come over here.  I’m not ready yet and I thought we could start talking while I’m getting dressed.”  Grimmjow nodded and followed the smaller man into his house.  Ichigo looked over his shoulder and smiled, “Thanks for bringing me home last night; I’m sorry I fell asleep on you.”

“It’s ok; you needed to get some sleep.  If you need to get some more rest we can do this later.”

“No, I have to get to the dojo.  You’re coming with me, by the way.  I have Jinta meeting there at 10:30 for some last minute training and I have another potential student coming to observe.  You might know him, I figured that we could talk before my lesson then we can continue it afterwards as well.”

“Ok, that works.  Is Jinta your only lesson today?”

“Yeah, he just needs a little extra help with an exhibition he’s doing.  It shouldn’t take more than an hour or two at most.  Maybe we can get something to eat afterwards, too.  If everything goes well.  You should know that right now I have three very pissed off voices telling me that they are supposed to have first crack at you.”

“I agreed to that when Tensa said I had to go through them to get to you, if that’s how it needs to be then I’m ok with that.  I know that to love you is to love them as well; I’ll need to get them on board as well if I have a chance of making it work with you.  So if it is ok with them, maybe me and you can talk a little before your lesson and then I’ll face them after?  I don’t want to get things to riled up before you have to work with that Jinta kid, he is annoying enough to piss of anybody.”

_“Aibou!  The rain has stopped!  Thank Kami.  I’ll agree with waiting until after Jinta, cause kitty-boy is right, that brat pisses me off!”_

“I think that is a wise choice as well.”

** “I will accept this as well.  However if I feel that things are getting out of control I will put a stop to it.” **

“Ok, Grimm.  We are all in agreement but Tensa said he will monitor us.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.  So how did you get roped into training the kids anyhow?”

“Kisuke asked me because Yoruichi is sick.  I only have today’s lesson then the competition starts Monday, that’s what two days away?  I have to chaperone them along with Kisuke and I think that Byakuya is sending someone else too.”

They two continued their idle conversation until Jinta arrived in the dojo, followed soon after by Shawlong.  Grimmjow’s eyes grew wide at the site of his cousin’s bandaged arm still in its sling.  Shawlong approached Ichigo and spoke softly to the man giving a small bow and cautious smile.  Ichigo smiled at him and said something that Grimmjow couldn’t hear causing the taller man to turn towards where Grimmjow was seated, nodding his head and making his way over to the still shocked blue haired man.  Ichigo had returned his attention to the small red headed boy and began their lesson.

“Hello Grimmjow.”

“Shawlong what are you doing here?  You are the last person I’d expect to see anywhere near Ichigo.”

“Your young man came to see me shortly after the incident to apologize; he has an honorable soul even if it is divided.  After mom read him and Uncle Sou the riot act I had a chance to speak with him and asked if he would be willing to take me on as a student.  I haven’t had a chance to speak to you about it yet, senpai, I apologize if I have over stepped my boundaries.”

“Shawlong, I have no objections to you receiving extra training.  Ichigo is a skilled warrior; I believe that he will be able to teach you a lot.  However, you are still my Fraccion, and as such you will not be excused from out lessons.”

“Of course not, senpai, I am intrigued by this boy and his skills are evident to anyone who sees him fight.  I will ensure a schedule that does not inconvenience any one.”

“Good.  Now how are you doing?  I have been worried about you, pop told me that you were doing well but not to bother you for awhile to give you time to heal.  I was thinking about trying to stop by in a few days to check on you.”

“I am doing fine; my arm is not broken only dislocated.  Dr. Kurosaki came to the house and treated me.  He also apologized for his son as well.  Mom was floored when he walked through the door; apparently they know each other from a long time ago.  I guess they all went to school together, you should have seen her face when he told her that he was in a relationship with Urahara-san.  She kept stuttering and saying something about Masaki and not seeing that one coming.  If I wasn’t so afraid of mom, I think I would have died laughing at her reaction.”

“I can imagine what that was like!  Masaki is Isshin-san’s late wife, Ichigo’s mother.  Urahara-san is the insane man that owns this place; he was the one fighting with Ichigo before pop took his place that day.”

“Wow, I guess I can see the reason for the reactions now.  Mom has pictured from high school and university of her and a woman with light orangish brown hair, if I remember right, the woman is Masaki.  We are supposed to be going over to his house for dinner later this week to meet the family and so they can catch up with each other some more.”

“The man is insane, just to let you know.  Don’t be surprised when he acts like a fool and his daughter kicks his ass for it.  And he will say some crazy shit; just ignore him as much as you can.  His daughters are cool though, Yuzu is sweet and very motherly.  Karin is a younger female version of Ichigo; she scowls and has an attitude.  DO NOT underestimate them.  Karin is strong and a trained fighter, she will kick your ass if you give her a reason to.  Yuzu is even scarier if she ever gets mad at you, she isn’t physically violent, but she can get in your head and royally mind fuck you.  Take my word for it and don’t ask.”

Shawlong stared at his cousin with a bemused expression, getting ready to say something but was interrupted by Ichigo’s voice from across the dojo.

“Jinta, stop right now.  You know this routine; you can do these moves in your sleep, why are you having difficulty with them now?”

The red head replied quietly and Ichigo looked at him with an incredulous expression, “What do you mean?  Why?  Not ever?  That is ridiculous, how do they expect you to put on a demonstration with a weapon that you have yet to even hold?”  Jinta’s response was again too soft to hear.  Ichigo put his hand on the boys shoulder and spoke softly to him once again.  Jinta nodded and walked away from the orange haired man joining the two spectators who were looking on in confusion.

“Hey kid, what’s up?” asked Grimmjow.

“Ichigo is working with me on a demonstration I’m supposed to give in a few days, it’s a weapons routine.  The thing is Yoruichi and Kisuke have never let me actually train with the sword, I think that they were gonna have me doing it this week but never told Ichigo that.  I just told Ichigo that I’ve never used a weapon at all and I think he might be pissed.”

“HEY YOU OLD PERVERT GET DOWN HERE!!!!!”  Ichigo’s voice resounded from the entrance to the dojo as he yelled up the stair way.  A moment later the blond man descended the stairs.

“Are you an idiot!?  Why didn’t you tell me that I was training Jinta for a demonstration for a weapon he has never trained with!  I now have two days to teach him how to wield a kodachi!  You do realize that I use an uchigatana; it is at least three shaku longer.  The shortest blade I have any skill with is the katana and I’m not good enough to be teaching it.  So here’s the deal, give the boy a sword, I’ll walk him through the body movements to get him used to the weight but you need to get some one here now that can teach him the proper techniques to wield the sword.”

Kisuke looked rather sheepishly at the livid man, nodding his head he murmured something and quickly moved away.  Jinta looked at the two with a worried frown.  Kisuke returned after a moment with a short sword and handed it to Ichigo.  “JINTA GET OVER HERE!”  The boy jumped as if startled and began to move across the room.

“Hey Shawlong, I’ll be right back.  I think that I can actually help out here.”  Grimmjow told his cousin and got up following the red headed boy.  “Ichi, I think I might be able to help you out here.  I have extensive training with the katana and Gin taught me the basics for the kodachi, it’s not that different from the katana.  I can help you teach that brat how to use it well enough to get him though the demonstration.”

Kisuke’s eyes lit up at Grimmjow’s words, looking at Ichigo to see if he would be willing to accept the man’s help.  Ichigo smiled and nodded his head, “You need a sword, so you have one?”

“Mine is at home, unless you have a spare kodachi or katana I’ll have to run to the house and get it.”

“The weapons that are here all belong to their wielders.  I have Zangetsu here with me; I’ll show him some basic movements while you run to the house.  My keys are hanging up if you want to take the bike, it will be quicker.”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Six hours later, Shawlong and Kisuke sat watching the flowing movements of the three swordsmen as they moved across the floor.  The three moved together as if they had been working with each other for years.   Kisuke had an idea, he quickly called his friend and made arrangements to have Grimmjow accompany the other young man as a chaperone for the competition. 

Grimmjow and Ichigo walked out of the dojo together both sore and tired.  As they walked together they talked amicably.  “Grimm, you want to get something to eat?  I’m starving and I don’t feel like cooking.”

“Yeah, I’m starved too.  Maybe I can start trying to make amends and try to win over the others.  As long as they don’t want to fight I think starting now would be good.”

“Zan says he’s not gonna fight you so you can talk to him to start with.”

“Alright then let’s get some food and talk. “

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

“I forgive you for your part in this mess.  I will accept you back into our life, you never left our heart.”

“Thank you, Zangetsu.  I am happy that we had this chance to talk, I learned quite a bit from you tonight.  I look forward to speaking to you again in the future.”

“We will speak again, I have enjoyed our conversation.  Good bye for now, kurohyou.”

Grimmjow laughed at the name, what was with the nicknames?  Shiro called him kitty-boy and now Zangetsu was calling him kurohyou.  Ichigo was looking him in amusement, hearing the blue haired mans soft laugh.  “Come on Grimm, let’s head home.  I am exhausted and I plan on spending the day with you again, you can deal with Shiro in the morning, he can’t wait to see you again.”

Grimmjow’s trademark feral grin spread across his face, “I can’t wait to see him again as well.  I want to find out why he keeps calling me kitty-boy.”

_“What’s wrong Kitty-boy?  Got a problem with what I call ya?  Well tough, I’ll call ya wha I want to and you’ll just ‘ave to deal wit’ it.  I hope you’re ready, cause your ass is mine tomorrow.”_   Shiro laughed as a distinctly lecherous glint shown in his eyes.  Grimmjow smirked and watched as Ichigo’s brown eyes reappeared.

“Come on Ichi, let’s go.  I think Shiro is thinkin of trying to fuck me, not fight me.”

“Ugh, he can be such a pervert.  I swear I think he was modeled after Kisuke sometimes.”  Ichigo grumbled.  Grimmjow couldn’t help but laugh at the man’s disgruntled expression.

“So, what can I expect from Shiro and Tensa?”

“The unexpected.”


	34. Chapter 34

Grimmjow woke the next morning feeling better than he had in the past few months.  The night before he had talked things out with Zangetsu and had gained the older personalities forgiveness and approval to continue working on the relationship with Ichigo.  Today however he had to face the toughest of the group, Shiro and Tensa.  As he showered and got himself dressed there was a knock at his door.

“Come in.” he called.

“Grimmjow, I have a question for you.  I received a phone call from Urahara-san; he needs another chaperone for his intermediate fighters.  You and Ichigo would accompany him to Tokyo for 3 days.  You will leave this afternoon.”

“I’ll do it but I need to talk to Ichigo first, I won’t do it if he doesn’t want me to.”  Grimmjow reached over to grab his phone to call the orangette.  Aizen nodded and gave his son a few minutes of privacy.

Grimmjow waited for Ichigo to answer the phone wondering what was taking so long, when he finally heard the other end pick up.

_“Hey there kitty, you callin’ ta back out on me?  I really wanna play wit’ ya,”_ Shiro cackled into the phone.

“Look you demented snowflake, I need to ask Ichi something.  Me and you, we’ll play, I have no intention of backing down.  Now give Ichi back his body and let me talk to him.”

_“Ooo, kitty has claws!  Don’t forget your ass is mine!”_

“Grimm, what’s up?”  Ichigo’s voice finally came across the line.

“Hey, Urahara called Aizen and asked if I could accompany you all to Tokyo as a chaperone.  I didn’t want to say yes if it is going to be an issue for you to have me there.”

“Oh, no not at all.  I told him it was ok to ask you.  So you gonna do it?”

“Yeah, I’ll do it.  I’m getting ready to head out now, where should I meet you?”

“I’m at dad’s meet me outside.  Oh, tell Nnoi that Karin said not to forget that he is supposed to be teaching Yuzu for her this weekend.”

“Nnoi?  My Nnoi teaching your little sister what?”

“Basic martial arts.  Karin has been working with her but apparently Nnoi’s style of fighting is more suited to Yuzu’s fluidity.”

“Hmm, that’s strangely freaky.  I’ll let him know and meet you in a couple minutes.”

“Ok, see you soon.”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The trip to the dojo was quick; Grimmjow was deep in thought about what Shiro and Tensa had in store for him.  Ichigo couldn’t help but laugh to himself at how on edge Grimmjow was.

_“King, you and the old man have already forgiven the kitty.  You know that means that basically me and the sociopath have to forgive him as well.  I want to have fun with him, make him earn my respect and acceptance.”_

“Of course Shiro, in order for us to be together he must be accepted by all of us.  Zan has judged him worthy, now you and Tensa need to judge him for your selves.  I have not forgiven anything, there is nothing to forgive, we have a lot of issues to work out and we are slowly but surely getting to where we were and where we need to be to move forward.  So you can have your fun, but don’t cause too much damage.”

_“Awe, King, you are too good to me.  I don’t want to damage him, just make him see that it takes a strong man to be with us.  If he is not strong enough I will not allow him to reside in here with us any longer.”_

** “I am in concurrence with the crude albino.” **

“You will both have your chance to confront him shortly, let’s get inside.”

Grimmjow watched the play of expressions across Ichigo’s face as they entered the dojo, knowing he was deep in conversation with his inner demons.  He licked his lips that were suddenly dry as a sense of foreboding overtook him.  Entering the changing room they changed into gi in silence, each caught up in their own heads.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

_“Here kitty kitty kitty, wanna come out and play?”_   Shiro cackled as he faced the scowling blue haired man across the mat.  Grimmjow almost hated this side of Ichigo, he was rude and uncouth.  He was too much like Grimmjow himself.

“Shiro, so what do I need to do to prove to you that I am a worthy match for your teishu?”

_“Hahaha!  You hear this in there Aibou?  Kitty thinks that you are my teishu!  No kitty, you have it wrong, he is my King, and I am but his humble horse.  As long as he is worthy I will serve him, if he should ever grow weak though, I will be the new King.  So kurohyou, are you strong enough to stand at our side?  What are you willing to do to prove yourself worthy?”_

“I am the only one strong enough to stand by your side, I have seen the demons that live in Ichigo’s soul and never once flinched away from your presence.  I will do whatever I have to, to prove that we belong to each other.  I will beat you into submission, I will confront Zangetsu, I will allow Tensa to drag me to the lowest level of Hell and claw my way back to Ichigo.  What do you want me to do, tell me Shiro and it will be done.”

_“Knock me down, if you can bring me to my knee’s it will prove to me that you are strong enough to rule by my King’s side.”_

Grimmjow let his usual feral grin spread across his face, now this was a confrontation he could deal with.  He sized up his opponent, shifting into a familiar defensive stance waiting for the psychopathic personality to make the first move.  Shiro’s insane laughter could be heard from outside the shop as the two began their battle of iron wills.

Shiro shifted his weight to his front leg, a barely noticeable twitch of his body indicating the change.  Grimmjow caught the movement and readied himself for the assault that he knew was coming.  Shiro’s body launched, pivoting to the left on his front leg bringing his right leg around toward the taller mans ribcage.  Grimmjow read the movement and countered bringing is knee up to block the blow, following with a punch to the lower back of his assailant.  Grimmjow’s blow landed, throwing Shiro off balance for a split second, Grimmjow tried to take advantage of the break bringing his leg up to try to connect with Shiro’s chin, Shiro leapt out of the way of the oncoming leg and vaulted over Grimmjow’s shoulder.  As his feet met the ground behind the bluenette Shiro tried to sweep the others legs out from under him.  Grimmjow leapt over the oncoming appendage and using Shiro’s momentum against him hooked his foot under Shiro’s bent knee and using all of his greater body weight pulled the still cackling Shiro’s leg out from under him causing him to land squarely on his back.

_“I am impressed kitty, please tell me how is it that you brought me down so fast and yet the last time we fought it lasted for hours?”_

“Ichigo needed a long drawn out fight to work through the anger issues that the pineapple guy caused, I wasn’t trying to beat him only match him to help.”

_“I knew I liked you, I accept you back.  Until you fuck up, then I will make you suffer.”_

“Thank you, Shiro.”

_“Now you get the sociopath, I pity you.”_

**“I am not a sociopath!  One of these days I will break that demon and teach him how a horse is supposed to behave.”**   Growled Tensa as he replaced Shiro, **“Now, it is my turn.  I have no desire to break you physically.  If you can beat me at my own game you will have my blessing.”**

“What is your game?  What are the rules?”

** “To know me is to beat me, you must find the reason for my existence.  The only rule is instead a clue, to learn about me you must first trust him with yourself.  I give you until you return from Tokyo to complete this task.  Do not assume that this is an easy task, you will be fought every step of the way.” **

Grimmjow watched Ichigo’s eyes return to his soft honey brown and wondered exactly how he was going to complete Tensa’s task. 


	35. Chapter 35

The trip to Tokyo was mildly uncomfortable for Grimmjow; he had offered to drive so that everyone wouldn’t be crammed into Urahara’s van.  Now here he was stuck in his car for the two hours it took to get to the city with Ichigo (not that he minded), Jinta, and Karin.  The two adolescents couldn’t seem to get along with each other and argued over every little thing possible.  Ichigo seemed to be able to tune them out but they were grating on Grimmjow’s last nerve.

“Oi, you two shut up back there!  I can’t concentrate on the road with you two bitchin like an old married couple!  Now keep it quiet or I’m stuffin one a ya in the trunk!”

“Grimm, come on they aren’t that bad,” Ichigo scoffed at the man’s outburst.

“I can’t tune them out and slip into lala land; I have to drive, so I don’t want to hear that they aren’t that bad.”

“Hey blueberry, I wanna see you try to stuff me in the trunk.  You aren’t man enough,” Jinta taunted the aggravated man.

“Hey, keep it up Jinta and I’ll shove your ass in the trunk,” growled Karin.

“ALL RIGHT!  Karin, no cussing!  Jinta, stop being a brat.  Everyone needs to calm down and keep quiet,” Ichigo intervened before a full blown war erupted in the car.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

“So gentlemen, I booked the rooms weeks ago when I still had plans to ask Sado-kun to be the other chaperone.  In other words you two can either share a room together or one of you bunks with me the other with Jinta,” Urahara said in that annoying sing song voice of his.

“Oh hell no, I ain’t sharing a room with that brat!” Grimmjow growled, “Ichi, I promise to be good if you let me stay with you.  I’ll kill this kid if you leave us alone together.  And Kisuke is creepy; I would swear he’d try to molest me in my sleep if he wasn’t with your dad.  No offense Kisuke.”

“None taken, I am a perverted old man after all.”

“It’s fine Grimm, we’ll share a room.  I pretty much figured that’s how it was gonna be anyhow.” Ichigo said looking at the other man with a smirk.

“Good, now that we have the rooms situated, everybody go get some rest.  Tomorrow everyone meet here at 8am and we’ll get set up for the competition.”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Ichigo and Grimmjow walked into their room and noticed that it had only one bed.  Ichigo chuckled to himself a little, positive that Kisuke had done that on purpose.

“Hey Ichi, he did this on purpose didn’t he?”

“I’m pretty sure he did.  You ok with sharing a bed with me?” Ichigo asked coyly.

“Always, but I still promise to be good.  I still haven’t figured out what Tensa wants from me and I don’t plan on pissing them off at this point in the game.”

“I know,” Ichigo sighed, “I’m not entirely sure what he wants from you either.  He won’t tell me.”

“I’m gonna take a shower, why don’t you order some food for us.  Money is in my wallet if you need it.”

“Sure, don’t be too long though I need to get cleaned up as well.”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow took a quick shower thinking about Tensa’s challenge the entire time.  “Shit!  I don’t know what he fuckin wants!”  When Grimmjow walked out of the bathroom he found Ichigo sitting on the bed looking at an old worn newspaper clipping.  “Oi, Ichi.  What you got there?” Grimmjow asked to get the others attention.  When Ichigo looked up Grimmjow noticed that his face was pale and devoid of emotion.  Grimmjow rushed to his side, dropping in front of the trembling form.  “Ichi, baby, what’s wrong?”  Ichigo flinched away from Grimmjow’s voice as he brought the clipping up for Grimmjow to see.

“What is this?” Ichigo managed to choke out as Grimmjow reached for the article finally recognizing it.

“It’s a reminder,” Grimmjow said.  He had carried that article around for nine years, just the site of the paper was enough to remind him of what he never wanted to become. 

“Grimmjow, what is it a reminder of?”

“Of a past that I won’t allow to repeat and a future I want.”

“What past?  Why are you carrying the article about my mother’s murder?”

“WHAT!? Shit you’re kidding me right?”  Grimmjow exclaimed as he re-read the article for the first time in nine years. “Oh, oh my god.  No, Ichi, it’s not possible.  It’s too crazy to be true.”

“Why do you have that?  I need you tell me why you have that in your wallet.”

“The man that was stabbed, now I know that it was by you, was my biological father.  He left me and my mother when I was about five years old, my mother fell ill and he was a no good bastard and took off.  My mother died when I was eight, four days after this happened.  She gave me the article and told me who the man was and made me promise to never turn into him.  I promised and a few days later she was gone, because I had no family I was put into the foster care program.  I went from family to family; a few were decent but most were horrible.  They had no interest in helping us kids they only wanted the money from the government.  I started down the same path as this man,” he waved in the general direction of the article, “a few times, but I always pulled myself back because of my promise to my mother.  When Aizen and Gin adopted me they tracked him down with the help of Tousen-san, I found out about a year ago that pop paid him off to get him to allow the adoption.  So, yeah, this is my reminder of what never to become.  I haven’t even read it since the first time until just now.  I had no idea that it was my father that murdered your mother.  If I would have put it together I would have talked to you about it.  I’m so sorry, Ichi.”

Ichigo looked out of the corner of his eye at Grimmjow’s bowed head, waiting to feel the expected rage surge through his system.  Surprisingly it never came; instead there was a dull ache in his chest.  His lover’s father had been one of the men that killed his mother, but Grimmjow was not his father, he wasn’t even his father’s child.  Ichigo reached out and tentatively gripped Grimmjow’s hand.  “‘This day’s black fate on more days doth depend: This but begins the woes others must end.’ ”

“Huh?  What was that, Ichi?”

“Hm, it’s William Shakespeare.  It basically says that what happened that day was bad, really bad and it will stay that way in our minds and hearts the longer we hold on to the pain, but we can get past it and move on to get past the sadness and guilt.”

“That makes sense.  I lean more towards  ‘Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before’, but I’m not really into Shakespeare.”

“It’s Edgar Allen Poe, right?  What’s it mean?”

“It’s about a man slipping into insanity; the poem is called ‘The Raven’.”

“That makes no sense in this context, Grimm.”

“It does to me; I’ll explain it one day.  Hey, how does Tensa fit into all of this?  Where did he come from?”

“He just did,” Ichigo said, Grimmjow noticed that his voice had taken on a flat sound.  Before he could ask any more questions there was a knock on the door, grabbing his wallet from the bed he went and retrieved the food.  The two sat down and ate in near silence and Ichigo went to take a shower.  Grimmjow laid down waiting for his lover and thought about the conversation with Ichigo.  He was still in shock that it had been his “sperm donor” that had been responsible for Ichigo’s mother’s death. 

Ichigo finally finished his shower and climbed into bed, lying with his back to Grimmjow.  Grimmjow raised himself up on his elbow, looking at the silent figure in concern. “Hey, Ichi, you ok?”

“I’m ok; I just want to go to sleep.  I’m tired and need time to process this information.  We’ll talk more tomorrow, for tonight just wrap your arms around me and sleep.”

Grimmjow happily obliged placing a gentle kiss to Ichigo’s temple.  “Ok, I can do that.  Goodnight Ichi.”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Morning came all too soon for the two men tangled together on the bed.  Neither man had slept well the night before and both were loath to drag themselves out of bed.  A loud persistent knocking finally caused the blue haired man to roll out of the bed to answer the door.  Yanking the door open he glared at the dark skinned woman at the door.  “What?”

“Hiya Grimm-kitty!  You and Ichi-kun need to get up and get down stairs, you’re late.  Kisuke sent me to find you,” purred Yoruichi.  “If you aren’t down in ten minutes I’m sending Ririn to get you.”

“Grr,” Grimmjow replied shutting the door.  He turned around to find Ichigo up and rushing to find his clothes for the day.

“Shit, hurry up baka!  You do not want her to send her daughter up here.  The child is annoying as hell!”

“Can’t be that bad, you’ve met Nel.”

“Think Nel’s personality and multiply it by ten with a dash of Luppi.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

KNOCK KNOCK “Ichigo!  Open up, mommy said to come get you!  I know that you’re still in there I can hear you talking.”

“Crap, too late.  Hold on Ririn, I’m getting dressed.”  As the last word left Ichigo’s mouth the door to the room swung open, revealing a small blond girl with a wide devilish grin.

“It’s ok Ichi; there isn’t a lock out there I can’t open.  Hey you, big blue, don’t you know it’s rude to stand around in your underwear in front of company.”

Grimmjow snapped out of his stunned state and grabbed his cloths that Ichigo had thrown to him.  Pulling on his pants he listened to the girl go on and on about her friend Kurodo and the games they liked to play with Ichigo and his friends.  Grimmjow was ready to puncture his own ear drums by the time they walked out of the room three minutes later, Ichigo was right, Nel had nothing on this kid.

When the three arrived in the lobby Kisuke was waiting with the rest of the group laughing at the expressions on the faces of the tardy parties.  “Ok, Ririn, go find your mom, I’ll take it from here.” The blond laughed.

“Ok Uncle Kisuke!  See you soon.” They all watched the blond girl skip off.  Grimmjow looking back and forth between the blond girl and the blond man with a curious look on his face.

“Hey, Ichi…..”

“Not right now, I’ll tell you in a little bit.  Let’s get going, Karin has the first match.  Jinta’s demonstration is this afternoon and his first match is this evening.  Did Kisuke tell you which fighters you were watching?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m with you.  He said something about it taking all three of us to reign in the red headed idiot.”

“I kinda figured he’d do that.  So let’s go.”  Ichigo walked toward his sister and the small red haired boy breaking up their fight before it could escalate.  Grimmjow smirked and followed the trio into the arena.  Grimmjow took Jinta and found seats up close as Ichigo and Karin walked into the fighter’s staging area. 

“So, Jinta I guess it’s just you and me for now,” Grimmjow said looking at the scowling boy.

“Look, you aren’t as annoying as the carrot-top, but I still don’t want to talk to you.  Can we just sit here in silence so I can enjoy Karin getting her ass beat?”

Grimmjow smirked at the boy, “Kid, you remind me of myself when I was your age, so full of anger and pride.  Watch the match; I won’t bug ya too much.”

Jinta sneered at being called kid but turned back to the arena floor when the announcer called the names of the fighters entering the floor.  Ichigo was standing off to the side with the sensei of Karin’s opponent with a deep scowl on his face.  Grimmjow remembered Ichigo saying his sister was strong and he had seen her take down her father several times but this was the first time he was actually going to see her fight properly.  He found he was more than a little curious.

Ichigo watched his sister bow to her opponent and take up her stance, the man standing next to him snorting with derision. 

_“Hey King……”_

“Go away Shiro, not right now.”

Ichigo watched Karin and her opponent, a young boy maybe a year older than Karin, he was taller and bigger than the lithe girl.  Karin strikes came fast and hard, the boy only managing to dodge half of them.  His sensei was making strangled noises as he watched his student being taken down by an unknown, smaller, and FEMALE fighter.  Ichigo smirked with pride for his sister until her heard the older man request an official to come over.  Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the man, still watching his sister with his other eye.  The older man was mumbling to himself as the official approached them, and spoke with the irritated man quietly. 

_“King, this guy is tryin to start some shit.  Want me ta take care-a him fo’ ya?”_

“Quiet, horse, I know he’s tryin to cause trouble.”

“Excuse me young man, are you the sensei for the Ryoka team?”  the small statured official asked.

“Hai, I am.”

“There has been a question of your fighters tactics brought to my attention.  This match is going to be postponed until it is reviewed.  You and your fighter will please come with me so we can sort this out.”

“As you wish, but first I need to contact the teishu of the dojo, I am but one of the teachers.”

“Very well, follow me and have them meet us.”

The official signaled the referee to stop the match and have the fighters join them as they left the arena.  Grimmjow looked on wondering what was going on, getting to his feet he pulled an irate Jinta after him following the group as they entered an office.  Ichigo stood by the door on the phone looking at Grimmjow’s confused face motioning him to enter as well.  “Kisuke, just get here now.  You know that I have temper issues, Grimmjow is here but you might have to step in to deal with this.  Grimm isn’t officially listed as a member of the Ryoka.  Just shut it and get here, now.”  Hanging up the phone he walked into the office and took a seat next to a thoroughly seething Karin.

“Is this the teishu?” asked the official looking at Grimmjow.

“No, he is a kendounoshihan.  My teishu is on the way; my shihan is here to help keep other uninvolved parties from interrupting.”  Ichigo said giving Grimmjow a glance to make sure he understood.  “Now, if you would, what seems to be the issue?”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Kisuke and Yoruichi walked in on a very amusing scene when they entered the office ten minutes later.  They had fully expected to find a raging Ichigo, a pissed off Karin, a hyped up Jinta, and Grimmjow trying to control the three, that is not what they got however.  Karin was on the ground being held in place by Jinta and Grimmjow; she was fighting to get free and madder than hell.  Ichigo was on his feet, hands braced on the table, looking calmly at an openly terrified older man and an uncomfortable looking official.  “Kurosaki-san, what is happening here?  Why has Karin-kun been restrained?”  Kisuke asked his tone serious.

Ichigo stood up straight and turned to his kyoukan, his stance relaxed but radiating power and authority.  “Urahara-san, so glad you are here.  Please let me enlighten you, this is Aki-Sensei of the Hana Dojo.  During the match between Karin and young Ryo, Aki-san spoke to the official Yamada-sama and questioned Karin’s ability to win against his _male_ student.  I can assure you, she did not cheat, she is to honorable to stood to such disgraceful tactics.  Karin-kun became very upset at the accusations so Jinta and Grimmjow had to restrain her while I speak with Aki-san and Yamada-sama to get the story straight.”

Kisuke and Yoruichi watched as Ichigo’s eyes swirled gold, silver, red, and brown.  Kisuke leaned close to his student and spoke softly, “Who is in control?”

Ichigo smiled, “All of us and none of us.  Don’t worry Kisuke; there is no danger to anyone at the moment.”

“Alright, well then let us get down to business.” Kisuke said, “Please continue Kurosaki-san.”

“Aki-san where were we?  Oh yes, I was asking what about the match did you see that made you think that my student was cheating?  The fact that she is smaller and younger than your student?  Oh wait, no it’s because she is a girl, right?  Kurosaki Karin did not cheat; she would not bring that shame upon our family name.  You however, Aki-san, seem to have no honor.  Do not cast doubt on my student’s ability because you have failed to properly instruct yours.  Yamada-sama please review the video and see for yourself.  When it shown that this man falsely accused my sister I want them to be disqualified from the competition.”

“Yes, Kurosaki-dono let us review the video.  Aki-san, Urahara-san, Yoruichi-san please have a seat.”

Yamada sat back in his seat a few minutes later and shook his head, “Aki-san, due to your dishonesty the Hana dojo is hereby disqualified from competing for the remainder of the year.  I am saddened by your actions.”

Aki’s face turned red and he opened his mouth to object but was cut off by Kisuke, “Yamada-san, I thank you for your diligence in this matter.  I will make sure to inform Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni of this when we return home, I am sure he will be grateful to you for the fair treatment of his granddaughter.”

Aki’s face paled as he looked at the still fuming girl sitting at the table.  “You are the granddaughter of the owner of Seireitei?”

“No, we are the grandchildren of the co-owner of Soul Society, Inc.”  Ichigo said, “Seireitei, Hogyoku, and Hueco Mundo merged months ago.”

“A-and you all belong to Soul Society?” Aki choked.

“Ah, yes we do.  Please allow me to introduce everyone to you; I am Urahara Kisuke, co-owner of Soul Society.  This is Shihoin Yoruichi, Shinigami Taichou of 5th Division.  Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Sexta Espada.  Kurosaki Ichigo, lead Vizored and second in command under myself.  Kurosaki Karin and Hanakari Jinta, Ryoka, junior division. “Kisuke smiled sweetly. “Now I have taken great offence to your devious tactics and will be filing a complaint with the MMA Association.  You would be wise to leave sooner rather than later as Yamamoto-sama will be arriving in a few hours to watch his granddaughter compete and his grandson assist in a demonstration.” Turning his back on the sputtering man Kisuke addressed his group again, “Ok everyone let us go and get ready for this afternoon.  Karin, you did very well and I know that you would have had no problems advancing without your opponent being disqualified.”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Ichigo and Grimmjow sat with their charges at a small outdoor table eating lunch.  Grimmjow was laughing at Jinta’s red face as Karin threatened to tell Yuzu that he was not worth her time.  Ichigo was smiling and felt calmer than he had in a long time.  His inner world was bright and sunny and its occupants were at peace for the time being.  Kisuke had informed them before they parted ways that he had changed the demonstration to include all three of them, after watching the practice the other day he said it was to mesmerizing to not have them do it again.  He had Ichigo and Grimmjow’s swords with him and he was going to meet them at the arena after lunch to take charge of Karin and hand over the weapons.

An hour later the three males were back in Ichigo and Grimm’s hotel room changing their cloths into the costumes that Kisuke had prepared for them.  Ichigo’s was almost identical to the one he had worn at the national competition except that there was no haori, the shihakushou was all black, and the kosode was blood red.  The mask was the same one as before.  Grimmjow wore a more contemporary outfit, the hakama were white and had a narrower leg than was traditional and tied with a black sash, the jacket did cover his chest and stopped at his waist, and there was a mask of sorts as well.  Grimmjow pulled out a half jaw mask that only covered the lover right section of his face.  There was also blue eyeliner with a drawing of how it was to be applied.  Jinta wore a traditional gi in red, black, and white with no mask.

“Well don’t we look like a bunch of freaks,” Jinta grumbled.

“Shut it kid, get your sword and put it on, we have to be down in twenty minutes.” Grimmjow growled at the complaining kid.  Ichigo could only stare at how hot Grimmjow looked in his outfit.  If his inner beings and Jinta weren’t around Ichigo would have the blue haired devil pinned under him and begging.  “Oi, Ichi! Snap out of it and let’s go!”

Ichigo shook his head and attached his blade to his back, grabbing his mask and following the other two out of the room.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Even though Grimmjow had only spent one day practicing the routine the three moved together seamlessly.  Ichigo and Grimmjow’s presence helped to calm Jinta down and he had not problems with the routine.  The crowd watched in awe as they danced across the floor with perfect predatory grace.  Grimmjow allowed his mind to wonder as he allowed his body to take over his movements.

“What does Tensa mean that to know him is to beat him?  And what is the deal with trusting him with myself?  I trust Ichi, he knows I trust him.  How can he not know?  If I didn’t trust him I wouldn’t have told him the story of my past.  I suppose that I could tell him the meaning of that quote, I doubt he’ll think I’m crazy.  I mean come on; I’m trying to get the approval of his split personalities.  Gah!  Why does love have to be so hard?”

The routine ended and they vacated the floor, returning to their room to change and stow their swords.  Jinta left after he changed to go hang out with Karin and Yamamoto-san.  Grimmjow sat on the edge of the bed still in his white outfit lost in thought.  He looked up when Ichigo came out of the bathroom; he stretched out his hand toward the smaller man and pulled him over to sit next to him.

“Hey Grimm, what’s up?  You ok?”

“Yeah, I’m good.  I wanted to talk to you though.  What I’m gonna say I have never said to anyone and I just need you to listen and let me get through it.  Ok?”

“Ok.”

“ ‘Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before’.  When my mother gave that article and told me that it was my father that had murdered that young mother I started to wonder if I was destined to be like him.  I already had a temper and was known to have violent outbursts, and I couldn’t help but think that it was genetic.  I spent the next six years feeling like I was slowly going insane, I couldn’t stop thinking that I was going to be a monster like him and I couldn’t stop it from happening.  Deep into that darkness peering, that darkness was what I thought was my soul.  It took Aizen and Gin coming into my life to show me that the darkness that I was so afraid of was all in my head.  I know that I won’t turn into my father if I don’t want to but the old fears still linger.  I still wake up at night in a cold sweat with the lingering feeling that that fate is still hanging over me and I’ll never escape it.  The dreams I dreamed were of a normal and happy life, I thought that they were just that, dreams that would never come true.  You see Ichi, I’m damaged and there is nothing that I can do to change my past but I damn sure will be the master of my own future and I want my future to have you by my side.”  Grimmjow finished with a deep sigh, waiting for Ichigo’s response.

** “Thank you, Grimmjow.  You truly do trust us with your soul; you have my forgiveness and my love.  I will now tell you who I am and how I came to be.  I am a part of Ichigo’s heart the part he tried to rip out the night his mother died.  The pure heart wrenching pain gave birth to me and Shiro, and we lashed out.  Your father wasn’t able to escape us but Ichigo’s inability to sever his emotions kept us from killing him.  Ichigo has in him the ability to love unconditionally and with such intensity it will engulf those he is close to.  However before he can allow himself to feel so freely he needs to heal and move on, accept us back into his being as a part of him not a separate entity from him.  I believe that you will be able to help him to do this.  Good bye, kitty.  Until we meet again.” **

“Thank you Tensa.”

“Hey Grimm, I will always be here to help you.  I’ll keep the darkness away for you, as long as you want me to.”  Ichigo said cupping the side of Grimmjow’s face.  As Ichigo stared into his lovers eyes he watched as the fear and anxiety melted away leaving only his love shining brightly in the cerulean orbs.  The intensity behind those eyes caused Ichigo to gasp and he found himself being drawn in.  His body leaned in under its own accord, closer, closer until only a breath separated their lips, “Let me save your soul the way you saved mine.”  The words were whispered against soft lips as they finally connected.

Grimmjow moaned at the feel of his Ichigo’s lips, after so long apart it felt like heaven.  Grimmjow brought his hand up to tangle in the orange locks he loved so much as Ichigo gently deepened the kiss.  The caress was soft, full of love and unspoken promises, lips gliding over each other relearning the feel and taste of each other.  Ichigo’s other hand came up to rest against Grimmjow’s chest, tiny electrical shocks raced along is hand as his fingers met with bare flesh.  Ichigo had forgotten that Grimmjow still wore the oh so sexy outfit.  A moan tore from Ichigo’s throat as Grimmjow’s grip in his hair tightened and an insistent tongue stroked the seam of his lips.  Ichigo opened his mouth and Grimmjow plunged his tongue in, exploring every inch of the hot cavern.  Ichigo’s hand plunged into bright blue hair pulling hard as his other hand traveled across expanses of bare skin.

Grimmjow broke the kiss as the need for air became too much, “Ichi, baby, if we don’t stop now, I’m not going to be able to control myself.  I want you so bad I’m losing my mind.”  Ichigo’s mind was a haze of lust as he tried to process Grimmjow’s words.  He knew that Grimmjow was trying not to rush him if he wasn’t ready to resume their physical relationship, with a smirk Ichigo shifted himself so he was straddling Grimmjow’s lap.

“Grimm, allow me to help you slip into the good side of insanity,” he punctuated his words with a roll of his hip, grinding their erections together creating the friction they both needed.  Grimmjow moaned as he gripped the narrow hips undulating in his lap.  “I want you so bad, Grimm.  I’ve spent so many nights dreaming of doing this again.  Feeling you, tasting you, hearing you, oh god, Grimm I lost my mind a long time ago.  I am so addicted you, I thought I was gonna die when I didn’t have you.”

“I-Ichi, Kami, Ichi,” Grimmjow moaned Ichigo’s words going straight to his groin.  “I need you, please.  I-I need you now.”  Grimmjow’s hands slid from their place on the boy’s hips traveling up under the hem of Ichigo’s shirt to finally meet with smooth burning skin.  Ichigo quickly pulled his shirt off throwing it to the floor.  “I love you,” the words were breathed against the soft skin behind the orange heads ear, causing the smaller man to shudder as jolts of desire tore though his body setting it on fire.

Ichigo leaned into his lover, lips leaving butterfly kisses along his jaw up to the hollow behind his ear.  He continued to kiss down the neck that was bared to him, tongue and teeth coming out to nip and lick here and there.  Grimmjow’s body was trembling, his control on the verge of snapping.  Ichigo could feel it and wanted to push his tightly wound lover over the edge, this time he wanted no barriers between them.  “Grimm, “he husked as he continued his trail of torture slowly down the man’s exposed chest, “this outfit is so hot, I wanted to jump you right in front of everyone in the arena.  I got so hard watching you move with that sword, I almost came from the sight.”  Ichigo knew that Grimmjow got off when he talked dirty to him, and he was rewarded as the last of the man’s self control finally snapped.

“Berry, you are asking for it,” Grimmjow growled as he flipped Ichigo onto his back and stalked up his body to capture those wicked lips.  Ichigo moaned as his lover easily dominated his mouth, god he loved it when Grimmjow was this aggressive.  Ichigo felt like he was going to combust from the heat of his lovers body pressed tightly against his.  Grimmjow’s tongue darted around Ichigo’s mouth mapping every hidden corner, coaxing Ichigo’s own tongue to dance, wet hot slick muscles gliding and caressing each other.  Large calloused hands glided up and down Ichigo’s quivering sides, the muscles jumping and clenching under his touch.  Ichigo’s moans fuelled Grimmjow’s desire, fanning the already consuming inferno burning in him.  Even though he wanted to take his time and make his berry beg, he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to hold back.  Moving his lips to Ichigo’s neck, he trailed his tongue down the corded muscle to the juncture of his shoulder, with a feral growl he bit down until he tasted the sweet coppery liquid telling him he may have been too rough.  Ichigo’s responding howl of pleasure put him at ease as he licked the abused skin in apology.  He continued to trail sharp nips and bites down the heaving chest until he reached the pebbled nipple begging for abuse.  Teeth latched on and were dragged across the sensitive flesh causing Ichigo to arch his back of the bed as he moaned loudly, fisting his hands into the blue locks and pulling hard.

“Grimm, p-ple, ahh, please,” Ichigo panted out, needing for Grimmjow to hurry up and take him, to complete him.  “Stop teasing, Gah!  I need you inside me now!”

“Kami, how can I refuse if you ask me like that?”  Grimmjow reached down grasping Ichigo’s pants, quickly pulling them and his boxers off and throwing them to the ground.  Slipping to his knees between the parted legs he quickly engulfed his lovers straining member, causing Ichigo to scream.  Grimmjow quickly licked three of his own fingers before returning his mouth the Ichigo’s weeping cock.  A moan was torn from both men as the first finger was eased into Ichigo’s tight passage.  A particularly harsh yank on Grimmjow’s hair brought his face back up to look into Ichigo’s pleading eyes.  He felt a slight shifting of the body under him before he found himself on his back, looking up at a feral looking Ichigo.  Ichigo’s hands made quick work of the sash holding his pants up and before Grimmjow could blink his pants were off as well.

“I can’t wait any longer.”  Ichigo husked out, lifting himself up to line up his entrance with the leaking member of his lover. 

“Ichi, I don’t want to hurt you.  You aren’t prepared yet……..”  Grimmjow’s words were cut off as Ichigo began to lower himself, taking Grimmjow in slowly inch by blissful inch.  Gripping narrow hips with bruising pressure Grimmjow helped to steady the beautiful body above him.  “Oh god Ichi, you feel so tight, so fuckin good, I don’t think I’m gonna be able to hold back.”

“Don’t, I want everything you have to give,” Ichigo moaned as he began to roll his hips, drawing a low growl from the man under him.  After ensuring that he wasn’t going to tear himself Ichigo lift himself up until only the tip remained inside him.  Giving Grimmjow an evil grin he slammed himself back down, hard.  Grimmjow didn’t have a chance to react to the sensation before Ichigo was repeating it over and over, effectively fucking himself on Grimmjow’s cock.  Grimmjow could only stare wide eyed at the site of the man he loved riding him with such abandon, pulling him closer and closer the edge of oblivion.  Suddenly Grimmjow needed to see the orange haired man under him writhing and moaning and coming apart for him, he quickly rolled them over pulling Ichigo’s legs over his shoulder at the same time.  Without a word Grimmjow began snapping his hip forward, thrusting hard into Ichigo’s willing body.  The pace was hard and they both knew that they weren’t going to last very long.  Ichigo couldn’t think, could form a coherent thought of sentence, only managing to studier out moaned pleas of “Harder”, “Faster”, and “More”.  Grimmjow happily complied with each shaky command, his body pounding into Ichigo’s with such force the bed slammed into the wall, groaning under the strain.  Grimmjow shifted his angle to slam into Ichigo‘s prostate with bruising force.  Ichigo’s moans and whimpers became screams of ecstasy with each strike, growing louder and louder.  “Gri- I, I’m……ghaa, I’m go-naaah…..oh god…..”  Ichigo incoherently babbled.

“Yes, baby.  Cum for me, just let go,” Grimmjow purred into Ichigo’s ear.  That seemed to have done it, Ichigo came undone.  Ichigo’s vision went black a moment before the world exploded in blinding color, his orgasm tore through his body with the devastating force of a hurricane leaving him breathless and dizzy.  Grimmjow watched as Ichigo reached his climax without his member being touched, the expression on his perfect face along with the sudden unbearable heat clenching around him hooked and pulled him crashing over the edge, plunging him into his own release.  As they lay there gasping for breath waiting to come down from incredible high, Grimmjow collapsed on top of Ichigo’s boneless body, soft whispers of love and affection the only other sounds heard in the room.

 


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: This is the final chapter, mostly it’s gonna be smut with a little bit of plot to wrap it all up.  I dedicate this chapter to OKami23Kitsune for the wonderful suggestion.**

Ichigo walked through the halls of Karakura High School, on his way to the gym.  He barely registered the crush of people trying to escape the school for the day.  He was so deep in thought he didn’t hear the woman calling for him until a hand grabbed his shoulder and forced him to stop.  He looked up and saw a short woman with dark hair and fierce grey eyes.  He visibly stiffened before he relaxed with a friendly smile.

“Soi Fon, how are you?” Ichigo asked the new principle of his old high school, “I heard you took over a few months ago.”

“Yes, I took over when Kyoraku-san left to care for Ukitake-san, his illness has flared up worse than ever.  I have to say that I am rather enjoying myself, though.  So I hear that Kenpachi requested that you personally make an appearance to look at the new class, they must be damn good for you to drag yourself back from America early.”

“I guess, he called me fourteen times in two days.  Tessai is managing the rest of the competition so I don’t need to be there.  It’s not like I was competing this time anyhow, I was there strictly to learn about the other side of the business.”

“When did you get in?  You look tired as hell.  Maybe you should come back after you’re rested.”

“I just got in; I haven’t even been home yet.  I thought about coming in tomorrow but Kenpachi won’t stop calling until I show up so here I am.  I figured that I would take care of this then go home and surprise Grimmjow, he doesn’t know that I came home early.”

“Well then, you won’t be getting any rest anyhow.  Come on, I’ll walk with you to see Zaraki, I’m curious now.”

The two entered the gym together and watched as students ran and cowered before the mountain of a man that was laughing as he watched two of the students spar.  The first was a senior that Ichigo remembered from a year ago when he had been a senior himself.  The boy was strong, but his movements were stiff and a bit clumsy, not a very valuable fighter.  The other boy however was a sight to behold.  He was tall and thin, 6’1” 150 pounds or so.  He had long blond hair that hung just below his shoulder blades.  His movements were smooth and graceful, his mastery over his body was not quite complete but with the proper training he would be a force to behold.  As Ichigo and Soi Fon stood watching the match Kenpachi walked over to them.

“Yo Berry!  You finally made it in!”

“I was in America you moron.  So the blond kid is the one you wanted me to come see?”

“Yeah.  He’s good, still needs a lot of discipline and training, but I think he’d fit well with your group.  He’s got family issues though; otherwise I’d recruit him for my squad.  You and Kisuke are better at dealing with the emotionally stunted.”

“Alright, when the match is done I’ll use your office to talk to him.  No promises, Ken, if he’s to damaged Kisuke won’t take him.  Now shut up and let me watch him.”  Kenpachi laughed causing the closest students to cringe and edge away.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

“So, Kenpachi-sensei has asked me to come in and speak with you.  He has been very adamant about it.  So let me start with a few basic questions, what is your name and why do you want to be a MMA fighter?”

The blond sat across the desk from Ichigo eyeing him skeptically.  “First if I may, brother, who are you and why has Sensei asked you to come?  You seem to be a bit young to be in charge of recruiting.”

“My apologies, I am Kurosaki Ichigo.  I am second in command of Hogyoku Martial Arts, a Division of Soul Society MMA, Inc.; I am also heir to Seireitei MMA, another division of Soul Society.  I am quite young, only 19 but do not question my authority or ability to recruit only the best for my company.”  Ichigo bit out a bit harsher than intended.  He was getting irritated easily due to lack of sleep.

“Kurosaki-sama, I meant no disrespect.  I do not like having my time wasted and I wanted to ensure that you were serious.  My name is Granz Yylfordt; I have always been very interested in martial arts.  I believe it came from my older brother; I used to go watch him during his lessons when I was very young.  However, when I was five my parents died in a fire and my brother and I were sent to separate foster homes.  I have been trying to find him ever since, the last I heard he had been adopted and this new parents moved from Osaka to here, so here I am hoping to find some trace of him.”

“Ah, so that’s the family issues Kenpachi mentioned.  That isn’t an issue as far as I’m concerned, you will find that we are all family oriented.”

After talking with the boy for about an hour more they had made arrangements for him and his guardian to come to the dojo the following day.  Ichigo left the school to go surprise his lover at their new home.  He made a quick phone call on his way there to set up for the following day.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Ichigo walked up to his door smiling at the thought of surprising Grimmjow.  As he opened the door as quietly as possible he could hear voices coming from the living room.

“Ni, Grimm, what are you gonna do?”

“Shit, I don’t know.  Pop has given me until a week after Ichigo gets home to make up my mind.  I don’t want to go but this is a chance of a life time.  I wonder what Ichigo is gonna say about it?”

Ichigo frowned and walked into the room, “What I’m gonna say about what, Grimm?”  Ichigo smirked as Grimmjow and his pink haired brother, Szayel, jump.

“Ichi!  What are you doing home?  You aren’t due back from America for another week.”  Grimmjow exclaimed as he walked over and wrapped his arms around Ichigo, burying his face in the orange hair he loved so much.

“I came home early; I had some business to take care of.  Tessai is more than capable taking care of things there and he has your Aunt, Ran’ Tao and Shawlong there to lend a hand with anything that comes up,” Ichigo said a little stiffly.

Grimmjow smiled and tightened his hold on the tense body, “I am s glad your home!  I have to talk to you, but if it’s ok with you I’d like to wait until tomorrow.  You look dead on your feet and I want you to be awake on coherent for the conversation.”  Grimmjow said softly in Ichigo’s ear, “Szay, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.  I’ll give you a call in the afternoon.”

“Actually I just got a message from pop; he wants me to meet him tomorrow at Urahara’s dojo at 3.  I wonder what it’s about.”  the pink haired man looked a little concerned.

Ichigo perked up a bit hearing that Aizen was doing what he had asked of him, “Don’t worry Szayel, I’m sure it’s nothing major.  I have a meeting with Kisuke at 2:30 if you want you and Grimm can come with me and hang out until Aizen gets there.”

“”Sounds good, I have one more request then, I need a place to crash tonight.  I was supposed to be heading home tonight but now that’s not happening.  I really don’t want to stay at the house; Gin keeps trying to introduce me to a friend of his.  Some guy named Mayuri; he said that we would be perfect for each other.  Ichi, you know who he is?”

“You can stay here tonight.  You have at least seen Mayuri before, he is a Shinigami.  Kurusuchi-Taichou is the captain of squad 12.  He is the tall one with dark blue hair and the painted body.”

“That freak!  I heard he is crazy, like off the deep end crazy.”

“Well I wouldn’t call him crazy; he is very devoted to his craft.”  Ichigo laughed.

“What craft is that?”

“He’s a scientist.  He holds PhD’s in molecular biology, psychology, sociology, bioengineering, biotechnology, quantum physics, mathematics, and culinary arts.  He is defiantly a freak and I personally avoid him at all costs.  He has always found me to be an anomaly that needed to be studied.  You two have a lot in common and at the same time are worlds apart.  However, you need to meet him before you judge him.”

“Hmm, maybe.” Szayel murmured, “Hey wait, how old is this guy?  He has to be ancient to hold so many degrees.”

“He’s 25, he is a certified genius.  He graduated high school at 13, and received his first four degrees simultaneously at 16.  The rest he has worked on randomly over the years.”

“Damn, Szay, he sounds like you.  To damn smart to be a fighter!”  Grimmjow smirked.

“I’ll ask pop what he thinks tomorrow, for now I think I’ll grab my bag out of the car and then head out for a bit and let you two have some privacy.”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow sat watching Ichigo sleep, his face relaxed and softer than it ever was while awake.  He smiled as he slowly got up from the bed and went to let Szayel in.  After he got his brother settled he made his way back into his and Ichigo’s room, climbing in bed and wrapping is love in his arms.  He sighed deeply thinking about how much he had missed this over the past two weeks, and how he never wanted to go that long again away from his Berry,

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Grimmjow let Ichigo sleep in the next day waking him with just enough time to get cleaned up and eat before they had to leave.  Ichigo was slightly disgruntled because he had really wanted to talk with Grimmjow about what he had overheard the day before.  After he inhaled his food, he grabbed his cell phone and keys.  He turned to the two men by the door pulling on their shoes; he gave a small smile and felt a twinge of excitement.

“So Szayel are you driving your car?  Or are we all gonna ride together?” Ichigo asked.

“I figured I’d drive so that I can head out after I meet with pop.  I’m still wondering what he needs to see me for.  If you would like I can drive us all.”

“No, I’m gonna take my bike.  I haven’t had a chance to ride in a while.  Hey babe, you gonna ride with your brother or with me?”

“I’ll ride with Szay there and you can bring us home later.  If that’s alright with you.”

“That’s fine; spend the time with your family.  We should get going, or we’ll be late.”

Ichigo opened the garage and pulled his beloved motorcycle out.  As the engine roared to life he felt all of his tension melt away.  Slipping on his helmet he kicked the bike in gear and took off, allowing the purr of the engine to flow through him like a cleansing balm.  All too soon he pulled into the Urahara Shoten parking lot, Szayel’s sleek Skyline right behind him.  Aizen and Kisuke were sitting on the porch waiting for them as the trio approached the shop; both men were smiling causing the two siblings to become apprehensive.

“Hey pop, what’s up?  You wanted me to meet you here.”

“Yes, my son, I want to see you spar.  I haven’t had a chance to observe your progress in awhile.  I’m setting up times to have everyone come here so I can check on their training but since you are here now I’ll start with you.”

“Um, ok.  Who am I sparing with?”

“Grimmjow.”

“Ok, so I guess let’s get this done then.” Szayel smirked at his brother. The three family members walked off to use the dojo.  Kisuke looked at Ichigo with a pleasant smile and a knowing smirk.

“So Ichigo-kun how was America?”

“Good, I learned a lot.  I’m sorry that I left early but I couldn’t deal with a dozen calls a day for another week from Kenpachi.  He was very adamant about me coming to see this kid as soon as possible if not sooner.  I have to admit though that I’m glad I did.  I couldn’t have imagined that the situation would turn out the way it did though.  Ah, this must be him and his guardian now.  You ready to meet him?”

The blond boy walked up the shop steps followed by another blond man not much older than he was.  Yylfordt smiled at Ichigo and offered his hand in greeting.  “Kurosaki-sama, it is good to see you again.  This is my guardian Ritz Mabashi, I know that we are a little early but I wasn’t sure exactly where we were going.  I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting to come to a candy store.”

“Ah, yes this is my shop, The Urahara Shoten.  I am Urahara Kisuke; head of Hogyoku Dojo and in charge of the Vizoreds.  Let us head into my office and discuss the possibility of you joining our little family.”

The four entered Kisuke’s office and settled in to begin their long discussion.

“Ichigo, this is your interview, Kenpachi specifically wanted you to come and observe this young man so I will leave this to you.” Kisuke said as they began.

“Ok, Urahara-san.  So to begin with I would like to know if you have any questions.  We spoke briefly yesterday, now that you’ve had time to think I’m sure there is more that you would like to know.”

“I have a question,” said Mabashi, eyeing the two men sitting across from him, “Kurosaki-san, Yylfordt said that you are second in command here and heir to Seireitei, yet you are so young.  I want to make sure that this is not a waste of our time.”

“I assure you that even though I am young, I am more than qualified to hold my position.  I flew home from America, leaving my team under the care of our administrator to come and see your ward.  I would not waste your time or my own.  Now, let me tell you how this works, first we’ll do the question and answer portion of this interview, second we’ll go to the dojo and I will fully assess Yyloford's abilities, third if you decide to move forward with joining we will schedule a physical, and finally contracts will be signed and a schedule will be set for training and competition.  Now, any questions you would to ask.”  Ichigo said a glimpse of the steel edge of resolve showing in his eyes and ringing clear in his voice.

Mabashi looked at him slightly taken aback before he smiled and nodded his head, “I apologize, Kurosaki-san.  Yylfordt, this is your call what do you want to know?”

“Kurosaki-sama…”

“Ichigo, my name is Ichigo.”  Ichigo cut him off, hating being called Sama.

“Sorry, Ichigo, I am only in my second year of high school, is that going to be a problem?”

“No, Karakura High is run by Seireitei.  The school is designed to accommodate the life of MMA fighters.  Your classes are structured so that you will graduate with an associate’s degree in Business Management, during tournaments a tutor is provided to travel with the group; you’re not penalized for absences due to injury, training, or competition.  There is a stipulation in your contract that says that you must maintain a 3.5 GPA to compete and if you are unable to compete you will be fined.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.  I had no idea that the school was geared toward MMA fighters, I just thought it was odd that gym class was all sparring and training.  You know that I am looking for my brother still is that going to be a problem?”

“No, as I told you before we are all very family oriented here.  I do have a question for you; do you have a problem with homosexuals?  I know that it sounds like I’m asking inappropriate questions; however once you are signed with any group under Soul Society you will be around a large number of them.  It doesn’t matter what your own preferences are, no one will ask you either way, but if you are intolerant of other people’s life styles you may want to look elsewhere.”

“I appreciate your candor, Ichigo, and I will tell you that I have no problems with anyone’s preferences.  I personally have none, gender does not matter to me only the person themselves.”

“Very good, you will fit in well here it seems.  So let us head to the dojo and get suited up so I can see what you’ve got.”

The two left the office and entered the dojo heading into the changing room.  The blond looked around with a small frown, “I did not bring any gear to change into.  I did not think that I would have to fight today.”

“That’s ok, we provide gi here.  We will be sharing the dojo with another pair that is sparing; I suggest you stay out of the blue haired one’s way.  He tends to get highly aggressive when fighting especially against his brothers.”

“Ok, I will stay away from them.  Now where are the gi so we can do this?  Are you any good?”

Ichigo laughed, “Better than most, not as good as some.  Let’s go, goldilocks.”

Yylfordt growled at the nickname, grabbing a clean gi and turning to change.  A few minutes later he turned back and sneered, “Let’s go strawberry, I’m ready to kick your ass now.”

Ichigo threw his head back and laughed as he walked out of the changing room.  Moving so he was on the other side of the room from Szayel and Grimmjow he turned toward his potential team mate and took up his stance.  “Let’s go, Goldie.”  Kisuke and Mabashi had entered the dojo and sat watching as the blond boy tried to find any weakness in Ichigo’s defense.  Ichigo was laughing as the young man was getting frustrated, his movements were becoming sloppy his focus was slipping.  Ichigo finally called an end to the brief spar after only twenty minutes.  “Alright kid, you aren’t too bad.  You lack focus and become flustered to easily but both issues are completely fixable with training.  So are you interested?”

“Hell yes, I look forward to one day kicking your ass!”  laughed Yylfordt.  He and Ichigo went to clean up again and walked out into the dojo together.  Yylfordt noticed that four other men had joined Mabashi and Kisuke.  Before they could reach the group though, Ichigo grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop.

“I want you to know that I was listening to you when you told me how important finding your brother was, so I am about to introduce you to some people that will make it easier for you.” Ichigo said softly, the blond’s eyes growing wider.

“Um, thanks?  Why are you helping me like this?  You don’t really even know me.”

“No, but I know him.”  Ichigo said pointing to the pink haired man that was turning from the group with a look of utter shock on his face.

“Yylfordt!  Where have you been??!  I’ve been looking for you for years!”  Szayel exclaimed rushing over to the blond.

“Szayel?  How….What….Why?”  Yylfordt stuttered, in complete shock at seeing his brother after all these years.  He turned to Ichigo and let a large smile dominate his face, “You?  But, oh my god, thank you!”

“You're welcome.  Go get to know your brother again; I’ll make arrangements with Mabashi to schedule your physical.”

Ichigo quickly made all the necessary arrangements with Mabashi and went to have a quick word with Kisuke.

“Ichigo that was a very nice thing you did.  Now I have an offer for you, I want you to think long and hard about it before you answer me…….”

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Ichigo was oddly quiet on the way home; he seemed lost in his own thoughts.  Grimmjow was starting to worry about his lover; Ichigo had even had him drive the bike home.  Grimmjow parked and walked into the house to find Ichigo sitting on the couch with his head hung low between his shoulders.  “Ichi, can we talk now? “  Ichigo nodded, “Aizen wants to send me and Stark to Mexico for six months, we’ll be part of a group that is establishing a new dojo for Soul Society.  That‘s what you overheard me and Szayel talking about last night.  I want to go but I don’t want to leave you for that long.  What do you think I should do?”

“Go.”  Ichigo said softly, causing Grimmjow’s head to snap up and look up at him with surprise, his eyes narrowed when he saw the smile creeping across the smaller man’s face.  “Go, I insist.  If you decide to stay, I’ll miss you.  Kisuke just told me that he wants me to go to Mexico to run the team being sent to do the set up of a new dojo.”

Grimmjow smiled and started to laugh, “So we get to go together?  I can handle that.  You don’t know how much I’ve been agonizing over this decision since Aizen told me last week.”

“Well no more agonizing.  Now, last night when I came home I originally had planned on making up for the two weeks I had to go without you, think you’re up for it?”  Ichigo smirked and tackled the larger man to the couch, sealing his lips against the stunned pair under him.  Grimmjow loved it when Ichigo was aggressive it made his blood boil with desire.  Ichigo’s tongue traced the seam of Grimmjow’s lips demanding entrance, which was given without a second thought.  Ichigo plunged into the familiar cavern exploring every inch like it was the first time, causing the larger man to moan into the kiss.  Breaking apart as the need to breath became too much, Ichigo smirked trailing nips along is jaw line.  “I am gonna make you beg for me tonight.  I’m gonna take you to the edge of sanity and even further.  By the time I am done with you, you are gonna forget every name but mine.”  Ichigo growled lowly in Grimmjow’s ear causing a shudder to run along the heaving body below him.

Grimmjow’s mind was short circuiting already and Ichigo hadn’t even touched him yet.  His words curled along his body and settled in his groin making is pants suddenly uncomfortably tight.  He couldn’t stop the low whine that escaped is lips if he had wanted to.  Even though their first time together he had let Ichigo top him it hadn’t happened since, something that Grimmjow would never admit kind of disappointed him.  He had never thought of himself as a submissive person but Ichigo made his body crave being penetrated by his smaller lover.  He just couldn’t bring himself to ask for it, so the fact that Ichigo was hovering over him whispering dirty things in is ear had him ready to cum right then and there.  Ichigo’s lips trailed from his ear down his neck, moving slowly leaving agonizingly hot trails in his wake, Grimmjow was going to combust he needed to feel more of Ichigo.  Reaching out to run his hands along Ichigo’s back he grunted when they were grabbed and pinned over his head, “I didn’t say that you could touch, now be a good boy or I’ll have to tie you down.  On second thought, I may just tie you down anyway; you look so hot completely under my control and helpless.”  Grimmjow moaned at the thought, god Ichigo had turned him into a masochist.  Ichigo’s hands wondered under the hem of his shirt fingers ghosting over his skin barley making contact making Grimmjow quiver and writhe desperate for a more forceful touch from his love.  Ichigo slowly removed Grimmjow’s shirt sliding it slowly along his torso creating a maddening friction, just as he was about to pull the shirt free he flicked his wrists wrapping the shirt around and binding Grimmjow’s wrists.  With a smirk Ichigo brought the man’s bound hands to his mouth and started to press soft kisses and languid swipes of his tongue down each of his arms.  Grimmjow moaned knowing what kind of erotic torture Ichigo was capable of inflicting, his body already begging for it shamelessly. 

Ichigo loved that he had barely started and already Grimmjow was writhing and arching into him, trying to get more contact.  Smirking he made his way down the captive arms making sure to briefly kiss, lick, and nibble every square inch, driving the bluenette crazy with desire.  Ichigo took his time mapping the smooth tan skin laid out below him, loving the feel and taste of the tan flesh, and the feel of the near constant rumble coming from deep in the chest.  He realized that Grimmjow was purring, the sound vibrating through his own body, exciting him further.  Ichigo finally reached the waist band of Grimmjow’s jeans running his tongue under the edge before dipping into Grimmjow’s navel delighting in the tremors wracking his lover’s body. 

Grimmjow lifted his head to look down at the orange hair moving down his abdomen, only to lock eyes as the mouth that had been torturing him for the better part of an hour latched onto the buckle of his belt, pulling it free before leaning up kissing Grimmjow deeply.  His plan worked perfectly, Grimmjow didn’t even notice when the belt was wrapped around his wrists, replacing the t-shirt and secured to the end table above his head.  Breaking the kiss Ichigo looked into glazed cerulean eyes seeing the depth of his desire reflecting his own.  “You are so hot tied down and panting, I’m still waiting for you start begging.  You’ve surprised me by holding out this long.”  Grimmjow moaned as he realized that he couldn’t bring his hands down, when had Ichigo done that?  Ichigo chuckled darkly as he returned to the unbuttoned jeans, nuzzling the evident erection through the material before biting the zipper tab and dragging it down agonizingly slow.  Grimmjow was panting harshly, his hips bucking slightly into the sensation as Ichigo nuzzled and teased his throbbing member. 

“Ichigo….”  Grimmjow whined, too far gone to be ashamed of the pitiful sound.  “Oh, gods, Ichigo….Please, please……”

“That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear, tell me what you want me to do”

“Ungh, touch me……ah!  Stop teasing me!”

“No.  I’m gonna tease you until you are screaming and pleading for me to fuck you senseless.”  Ichigo dragged his nails down Grimmjow’s sides hooking the waist of his pants and pulling them and his boxers off in one quick movement.  Ichigo continued to explore the quivering body purposely avoiding any contact with the extremely hard cock leaking copious amounts of precum.  Grimmjow moaned and whined as he felt that wicked mouth come so close to where he wanted only to move away again.  Ichigo hooked his arms under Grimmjow’s legs pushing his knee’s up into his chest exposing his entrance to Ichigo’s wandering mouth. 

“ICHIGO!  OH GOD!”  Grimmjow practically screamed out as he felt Ichigo’s lava tipped tongue push into him.  “PLEASE!  I can’t take it anymore, I need you inside me, please….”

Ichigo smirked reaching up and placing two fingers at Grimmjow’s lips, “Suck.”  Grimmjow greedily lapped at the digits as Ichigo continued to thrust his tongue into his puckered hole.  Deeming the fingers wet enough, Ichigo trailed them down caressing the waiting entrance briefly before slipping two fingers in and beginning to stretch him.  Ichigo didn’t think he was going to be able to hold out much longer, the sounds coming from Grimmjow and the tight heat forcibly sucking in his fingers making his control slip.  “Are you ready?”  Grimmjow could only nod as Ichigo removed his fingers standing to remove his own clothing finally.  Grimmjow growled at the empty feeling until he noticed Ichigo quickly divesting himself of his pants revealing his own leaking erection.  Ichigo gave his love an evil smirk before licking his hand and using his saliva to slick his twitching member.  Moving back between the parted legs he guided himself into his partner’s spasming canal.  They both knew that they weren’t going to last very long, neither one really cared at this point the pace they set was fast and hard, almost brutal. 

They were so engrossed in the rapture of their coupling they didn’t hear the front door open or the loud thud of something hitting the floor.  “Oh my god!!!!!!  I so do not want to be seeing this!”  A shrill voice broke through the haze of lust making the sweating couple on the couch snap their heads toward the door and the pair of men standing there.  Shinji had been the one to cry out and Nnoitra was standing there with his jaw on the floor.  The last thing he had expected to see when he walked into his brother’s house was the blue haired demon getting pounded into while tied up.  Grimmjow was growling and Ichigo had a strange look on his face as he smirked at the stunned couple.

“You have a choice, either leave or stay, but I’m not stopping.”  To emphasize his point he snapped his hips forward sharply pulling a low moan from the blushing man below him.  Shinji and Nnoitra quickly turned around and walked out the front door, Nnoitra calling over his shoulder, “We’ll be outside when you’re finished, don’t take all night!”  Ichigo barely heard him as he started his previous pace again, making Grimmjow forget almost instantly forget about their interruption.  The pace and the hours of foreplay had both men climaxing in domino soon after.  As they lay there panting trying to regain their sanity Grimmjow growled softly.  Ichigo raised his head and looked at him questioningly.

“I am never gonna hear the end of this, and you, you just…”

“I just what?  Kept making you moan even though we had an audience?  Come on let’s get cleaned up and let those two back in.”  Ichigo reached up and released Grimmjow’s bound hands and got up walking into the bathroom to clean himself, Grimmjow following right behind him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Dinner that night was an amusing affair.  Grimmjow had forgotten that he had invited Nnoitra and Shinji over for dinner or he would have made sure to drag Ichigo into the bedroom. 

“Ichi, you know I knew that you had an aggressive side but seeing it was just too much!  I know you’ve topped him before and all, but it’s still hard picturing Blue as a bottom.  Of course now I have the mental image burned into my mind.  You know there are certain things that you just can’t unsee; I really need bleach for my brain now.”  Shinji wailed, causing Grimmjow to send a murderous glare his way.  Nnoitra could only laugh at his boyfriends antics, knowing that he was only acting that way to rile up Grimmjow.

“Seriously, bro?  I am ashamed to say that my brute of a brother has turned into a bitch, it makes me want to cry for your lost masculinity.”  Nnoitra cackled watching his brother turn bright red as Ichigo snickered.  “Ichi, I don’t know whether to be proud or mad at you for toping my brother.”

Ichigo shrugged his shoulders and smirked.  “We enjoy taking turns, you should try it.”

Nnoitra sputtered and shot him a glare, “Not a chance, no one tops me.”

Shinji just started laughing, “You have nothing to worry about babe, I am not programmed to be a seme.  And you Ichi!  I can’t believe you just kept going with us standing there, talking like you weren’t doing what you were doing!”

“I’ll give you that, you got more balls than I gave you credit for!”  Nnoitra laughed making Grimmjow groan and bury his head in his arms.  Ichigo smiled at the embarrassed man putting his arm around him placing a kiss on his head.

“So you two are gonna stay here when we are in Mexico huh?  No fucking in my bed and we’ll be golden.”  Ichigo said changing the subject.

 Nnoitra looked into Ichigo’s eye’s noting the mirth still swimming in his multi-colored eyes.  In the two years that he had know the man he had gained full control over his other personalities resulting in startling changed in the man’s appearance and personality.  He was more confidant and sure of himself now.  His manner easy going but quick to shift into aggressive when needed.  His eyes now were marbled chocolate, golden, and silver surrounded by a red ring.  His nails grew in black and there were white and brown streaks in his hair.  Over all the physical changes were flattering albeit strange and the changes to his personality showed the kind of man he was evolving into, strong, kind, caring, but with the ever present steel edge of his resolve.


End file.
